Before we begin todays reflection, I want to speak to the common criticism that the church utilizes that good ol’ “Catholic Guilt” to convince the faithful to live the Gospel. Today’s reflection does not aim to guilt anyone into any amount of service. Actually I would contend that you are exactly the person who is already doing God’s will, and that you now have an opportunity to step things up a bit! So as I begin, I do not want to be accused of using guilt as a tool, but rather be recognized as God’s humble instrument in opening up an opportunity to serve.
I’m just not a very complex person. I’ve tried my whole life to simplify things down to the lowest common denominator, so you can see why today’s readings just jumped off the page and made me proclaim, “YESSSS!”
"If only you would heed the voice of the LORD, your God,
and keep his commandments and statutes that are written in this book of the law, when you return to the LORD, your God, with all your heart and all your soul…” – SIMPLE!
Our Lord confirms this in today’s Gospel with his simple answer to the complex question of "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." – SIMPLE!
But I guess things get a little messy, when the Scholar asked, "And who is my neighbor?" - Jesus answers with a story.
In the Gospel, the neighbor is the person who falls victim to robbery, and even though it’s a societal “ne’re do well” that becomes the hero… It’s simple. You just take care of the neighbor!
I think this is where life gets messy for the scholar and maybe even for us gathered here today… WHO IS OUR NEIGHBOR?
Maybe today our neighbor is also one who falls victim to sudden or even prolonged loneliness, poverty, illness, violence, misunderstandings, or the lack of acceptance. Maybe our neighbor has become accosted by the confusing messages of the world around us, or has gone down a path that is totally opposite to the one we would prefer.
Jesus simply says, “Treat them with mercy,” with the same understanding as Moses spoke to us in the first reading: Like the Law of God, the concept of Mercy is “not too mysterious and remote for you… No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.”
SIMPLE, right… Just treat them with mercy? I’m not sure it’s as easy as it sounds because mostly what I see are people casually walking by, easily identifying what they see are the problems, flaws or the like, but not stopping to help. Opinions and well thought out social media posts have given us the illusion that we’re doing something to help, when actually we are acting just like the priest and the levite choosing to comment from the other side of the street. Meanwhile the Samaritan, that kind of person that needs to live over there and probably doesn’t even have an Instagram account, let alone even own a cell phone; they are the one who dares to do the simplest thing that probably messed up an otherwise uneventful day, calling for some extra time and commitment.
In our Catholic faith these are called the Works of Mercy! These are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor for their spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead… While we are called to perform these works in a literal sense, I would add that we can expand their meaning looking at them figuratively. We can offer sustenance to those hungry for truth, love or friendship. We can offer shelter to those subject to the storms of life. We can offer clothing or a coat to those exposed to the chill of an uncaring environment. We can visit those who are trapped or imprisoned by addiction. And we help others “bury” a hurtful past, helping them move on to a new life with new hope!
When we pray the Our Father, and we utter the line “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us,” this speaks to the reality that mercy can only penetrate our hearts if we have learned to forgive our enemies or, dare I add be willing to step into the hard and uncomfortable work that is ministry, and not have selective blindness when it comes to serving the poor.
Maybe our neighbor today is the woman who is in a crisis pregnancy, or the young person who has lost their way.
As you’ve heard before, from the Book of James, “If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?”
Our Psalm today offers that the Lord seeks to heal and love those who are most in need… See, you lowly ones, and be glad; you who seek God, may your hearts revive! For the LORD hears the poor, and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.
St. Paul reassured the Colossians that “Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God.” Deacon Greg wants to add that you and I are called to be the image of a seemingly invisible Christ to the world! At his Masses last weekend, Fr. Roy reminded us of St. Teresa Avila’s great quote, so I’ll end with it:
“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”
I’m just not a very complex person. I’ve tried my whole life to simplify things down to the lowest common denominator, so you can see why today’s readings just jumped off the page and made me proclaim, “YESSSS!”
"If only you would heed the voice of the LORD, your God,
and keep his commandments and statutes that are written in this book of the law, when you return to the LORD, your God, with all your heart and all your soul…” – SIMPLE!
Our Lord confirms this in today’s Gospel with his simple answer to the complex question of "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." – SIMPLE!
But I guess things get a little messy, when the Scholar asked, "And who is my neighbor?" - Jesus answers with a story.
In the Gospel, the neighbor is the person who falls victim to robbery, and even though it’s a societal “ne’re do well” that becomes the hero… It’s simple. You just take care of the neighbor!
I think this is where life gets messy for the scholar and maybe even for us gathered here today… WHO IS OUR NEIGHBOR?
Maybe today our neighbor is also one who falls victim to sudden or even prolonged loneliness, poverty, illness, violence, misunderstandings, or the lack of acceptance. Maybe our neighbor has become accosted by the confusing messages of the world around us, or has gone down a path that is totally opposite to the one we would prefer.
Jesus simply says, “Treat them with mercy,” with the same understanding as Moses spoke to us in the first reading: Like the Law of God, the concept of Mercy is “not too mysterious and remote for you… No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.”
SIMPLE, right… Just treat them with mercy? I’m not sure it’s as easy as it sounds because mostly what I see are people casually walking by, easily identifying what they see are the problems, flaws or the like, but not stopping to help. Opinions and well thought out social media posts have given us the illusion that we’re doing something to help, when actually we are acting just like the priest and the levite choosing to comment from the other side of the street. Meanwhile the Samaritan, that kind of person that needs to live over there and probably doesn’t even have an Instagram account, let alone even own a cell phone; they are the one who dares to do the simplest thing that probably messed up an otherwise uneventful day, calling for some extra time and commitment.
In our Catholic faith these are called the Works of Mercy! These are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor for their spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead… While we are called to perform these works in a literal sense, I would add that we can expand their meaning looking at them figuratively. We can offer sustenance to those hungry for truth, love or friendship. We can offer shelter to those subject to the storms of life. We can offer clothing or a coat to those exposed to the chill of an uncaring environment. We can visit those who are trapped or imprisoned by addiction. And we help others “bury” a hurtful past, helping them move on to a new life with new hope!
When we pray the Our Father, and we utter the line “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us,” this speaks to the reality that mercy can only penetrate our hearts if we have learned to forgive our enemies or, dare I add be willing to step into the hard and uncomfortable work that is ministry, and not have selective blindness when it comes to serving the poor.
Maybe our neighbor today is the woman who is in a crisis pregnancy, or the young person who has lost their way.
As you’ve heard before, from the Book of James, “If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?”
Our Psalm today offers that the Lord seeks to heal and love those who are most in need… See, you lowly ones, and be glad; you who seek God, may your hearts revive! For the LORD hears the poor, and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.
St. Paul reassured the Colossians that “Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God.” Deacon Greg wants to add that you and I are called to be the image of a seemingly invisible Christ to the world! At his Masses last weekend, Fr. Roy reminded us of St. Teresa Avila’s great quote, so I’ll end with it:
“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”
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