Walking with Jesus: Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

For Sunday, July 10, 2022

Deuteronomy 30:10-14; Colossians 1:15-20; Luke 10:25-37

How am I to live in the world today? How can I live the life God has called me to live? How am I to live in a world that is constantly changing directions, from being a believer and Christian to someone who is not respecting life in all its aspects … from supporting war and violence among peoples to not granting all peoples the basics — food, clothing, the ability to work and earn a living, and living in conditions that cannot sustain the basic necessities of life? How can I allow people to be treated as slaves, second-class citizens, people whose lives are subservient to mine? What trends exist in our world that hinder the development of universal solidarity, fraternity and working together to advance all people closer to the ideals Jesus taught of love, forgiveness, healing, mercy and care?

People commonly share these concerns with me: “Father, there is so much evil in the world … in our world. It exists in politics … government … Ukraine … Russia … Africa … Haiti … China … India … the Church. What is it all coming to? The world we once knew … isn’t. The world that will be ... isn’t yet. What will it be?” I heard the exact same words used when analyzing Vatican II. History tells us that it takes 50 years for the livable truths of an ecumenical council to become recognized and lived. (Vatican II ended Dec. 8, 1965.) People tell me, “Let’s go back to the Council of Trent … the way it was. Everyone has an opinion about Republicans and Democrats … the Presidency … January 6 … sexual and financial sins of the Catholic Church. Where is the Church leading us? Where is God leading us?”

Pope Francis is calling us “to live out our Christian duty to see the face of Jesus in our neighbors, recognizing everyone we meet as a brother or sister.” He reminds us of our “(blessed) common belonging” in his encyclical, Fratelli Tutti: “By fostering a genuine affection for all, we reaffirm the dignity of every human person created in the image and likeness of God.” [from the back cover of the Encyclical published by Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division]

We always have had a universal mission, by our Baptism, to be witnesses to the world of the love, forgiveness and mercy of Jesus. How am I doing? Am I compromising these life principles? Am I choosing who, where, how, what … when I apply these teachings of Jesus? What makes me feel that I have the right to question or compromise Jesus?

I like the way Pope Francis starts his encyclical, Dark Clouds Over a Closed World, “without claiming to carry out an exhaustive analysis or to study every aspect of our present day experience, I intend simply to consider certain trends in our world that hinder the development of universal fraternity.” The Pope then goes through a seemingly exhaustive list of the evils, hurts, mistreatments and disregard of the peoples living in the world today. He strongly suggests that we are to look to the parables of Jesus for direction in helping treat and bring closure, as much as possible, to these evils and injustices. He focuses in on the prime parable — The Good Samaritan — today’s Gospel. If we are people who care for all, we are on the right track.

A scholar of the law, the Mosaic Law, asked Jesus a seemingly sincere question as to how he could get to heaven. Don’t we have the same question? Jesus responded with His law of love: loving God with our whole being and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Wishing to justify himself, the lawyer asked: “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus shared His descriptive story of the Good Samaritan and then asked: “Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?” The man answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.” [Luke 10:37] Am I learning what love entails?

So I reflect on:

“I have tried so hard, I have given all that I have! And yet here I am, lying by the side of the road, beaten and left for dead. My head throbs. The sun dries the blood on my face. I feel my life fading. Is this the way that it is going to end?

“A priest passes by. He is well-respected. I am a man of no importance. He can tell by my clothes. If misfortune comes, it must be something that I have done wrong. God is punishing me.

“A Levite passes by … absorbed in important thoughts … too important for him to notice me. He is unconcerned … oblivious to my battered body … THESE two do not see. They do not care … they just pass by. The opposite of love is not hate; it is indifference.

“I am afflicted and in pain. You hear the cry of the poor. Don’t abandon me! I’m not done loving yet. I have much more loving and serving to do ... HELP … my response?” [From Living the Word]

Sacred Space 2022 states:

“Does this story touch me? Could I spend some time reflecting on this parable as if it were addressed personally to me? I may love the Lord with all my heart and all my soul, but who in my life is my neighbor? And to whom am I a good neighbor?”
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Please consider reading Pope Francis’ Encyclical, Fratelli Tutti.