July 13, 2025
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 105
Reading 1
Moses said to the people:
"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.
"For this command that I enjoin on you today
is not too mysterious and remote for you.
It is not up in the sky, that you should say,
'Who will go up in the sky to get it for us
and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?'
Nor is it across the sea, that you should say,
'Who will cross the sea to get it for us
and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?'
No, it is something very near to you,
already in your mouths and in your hearts;
you have only to carry it out."
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm
69:14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36, 37
R. (cf. 33) Turn to the Lord in your need, and
you will live.
I pray to you, O LORD,
for the time of your favor, O God!
In your great kindness answer me
with your constant help.
Answer me, O LORD, for bounteous is your kindness:
in your great mercy turn toward me.
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
I am afflicted and in pain;
let your saving help, O God, protect me.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving.
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
"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."
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
For God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
The descendants of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall inhabit it.
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
or
R.(9a) Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul;
the decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.
R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the command of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eye.
R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true,
all of them just.
R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
They are more precious than gold,
than a heap of purest gold;
sweeter also than syrup
or honey from the comb.
R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
Reading 2
Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;
all things were created through him and for him.
He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the body, the church.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he himself might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile all things for him,
making peace by the blood of his cross
through him, whether those on earth or those in heaven.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;
you have the words of everlasting life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
There was a scholar of the law who stood up to
test Jesus and said,
"Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law?
How do you read it?"
He said in reply,
"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."
He replied to him, "You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live."
But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus,
"And who is my neighbor?"
Jesus replied,
"A man fell victim to robbers
as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down that road,
but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise a Levite came to the place,
and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal,
took him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,
'Take care of him.
If you spend more than what I have given you,
I shall repay you on my way back.'
Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbor to the robbers' victim?"
He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy."
Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071325.cfm
Commentary on
Deuteronomy 30:10-14; Colossians 1:15-20; Luke 10:25-37
The core of the Christian message is:
- faith
as total trust in God and his message that comes through Christ in the New
Testament;
- love
as the driving power of all our actions and relationships.
We cannot have one without the other. As the Apostle James
says in his Letter:
…faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. (James
2:17)
Some people tend to be very concerned about orthodoxy, about
thinking and saying the right thing in conformity with the Church’s teaching,
but there can be no orthodoxy without orthopraxis, as the example of the Pharisees
makes clear. Faith which does not express itself in love is Pharisaism.
Christian faith truly lived results in a bonding with people everywhere. It is
a living out of the prayer, “Our Father”.
Four people
Today we have one of the most famous Gospel stories, the “Good Samaritan”.
There are four people in the story:
- A
Jewish priest, a man of deep religious convictions, serving in the Temple
at Jerusalem.
- A
Levite, also a religious person with Temple connections.
- A
Samaritan, a traveller apparently on business. Samaritans were regarded by
devout Jews as outsiders and heretics, people not to be seen in company
with.
- An
unknown man, beaten up by robbers on the roadside. He is presumably a Jew
to give the story its full impact, but not necessarily so. In a sense it
is totally irrelevant what labels are attached to the man. All that
matters is that he is a fellow-human being in great need of help.
In such a situation the response expected by the Gospel is
clear:
- forget
about your status in society (“A person of my standing cannot be expected
to help in such a situation…”);
- forget
what people might say about you;
- forget
about personal fears and desires which turn you in on yourself;
- forget
about your religious ‘obligations’.
Were the priest and the Levite on the way to the Temple? If
so, they could not risk coming in contact with the injured man who was almost
certainly bleeding. Contact with blood would render them ‘unclean’ and keep
them out of the Temple and their worshipping of God there. It was clear to them
where their priorities lay. It would be like if one were to think:
“I know he’s been attacked and beaten up and urgently needs
an ambulance. But he’s bleeding and might have some disease. Anyway I am
rushing to the last Sunday Mass. It will be a mortal sin if I do not go. And
anyway, there is nothing in the Ten Commandments about helping victims of
attack.”
Not a question of morals
Again, the Gospel tells us to forget about the moral condition of the one to be
helped. It is totally irrelevant how the man got into the situation. Maybe he
was stupid to be travelling alone with money on a notoriously dangerous road.
So, today it might be a driver who crashed while drunk. It might be someone who
is on drugs or who leads a promiscuous lifestyle.
For Jesus, none of this counts. In the story, the injured
man—a complete stranger—has a higher priority than the needs of any of the
other three. The first two are rushing to the Temple to worship God. What they
fail to realise is that a child of God and their own brother is right there
lying on the road. God could be worshipped right there! Says Jesus our Brother:
Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least
of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me. (Matt 25:40)
The outsider
But only one of the three, the despised outsider, responds to the injured man’s
need. He was the one most apparently in a hurry. He applied first aid (oil and
wine), found shelter for the man and paid all his expenses—a victim who most
probably was a Jew.
The key words in the story are “compassion” and “mercy”. In
fact, the verb used to express the feelings of the Samaritan for the victim
lying on the road is the same as that used to describe Jesus’ compassion for
the crowd, when he sees them as “like sheep without a shepherd”. This is not at
all the same as pity. Pity suggests looking at the victim from a superior
position. Compassion implies fellow-feeling, identifying with the pain and
suffering of others; or saying it another way, empathy, not just sympathy, and
being sorry with, not just sorry for.
The neighbour
The story is actually a response to the question: “Who is my neighbour?” As the
Jewish lawyer himself says, the neighbour is:
The one who showed him mercy.
Our neighbour is not just the person living next door, nor a
fellow-national, nor a fellow-Catholic, but rather anyone in need. According to
the Gospel, being a real neighbor to others requires us to show sincere
compassion even to a total stranger, extending our help unconditionally and
without moral judgement.
“You’re in the gutter and you deserve to be there”, is not
being neighbourly.
“Why can’t your own people come and help you?”, is not being
neighbourly.
“I have only time for my own family,” is not being
neighbourly.
One arm of the most central commandment is:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Matt
12:31)
But the crucial question in carrying out the commandment is
“Who is my neighbour?” Each of us has honestly to ask this question. Another
way to ask it is, “Who in my life am I willing (or unwilling) to help?” What
are my criteria for helping another person? Do family, friends, race, religion,
moral goodness, a criminal record or some other factors come into the picture?
What about the person who hates me, the terrorist, the drug addict, the
alcoholic, the prostitute or the diseased?
This parable touches all our lives deeply. In honestly
answering the question, “Who is my neighbour?”, I learn a great deal about the
kind of person I am, the kind of neighbour I am. Let’s all be good neighbours!
Comments Off
https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/oc151r/
Sunday,
July 13, 2025
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
LECTIO Opening Prayer
Prayers of Blessed Giorgio Preca in Il Sacrario dello spirito di Cristo
Lord God, you are present
and I am in you: Give me wisdom to know your spirit.
Lord God, you are present
and I am in you:
Grant me the gift of the
spirit of the Master, my Christ Jesus.
Lord God, you are present
and I am in you: Guide my every way with your light.
Lord God, you are present
and I am in you: Teach me to do your will at all times.
Lord God, you are present
and I am in you:
Do not let me stray from
your Spirit, the Spirit of love.
Lord God, you are present
and I am in you:
Do not abandon me when my
strength fails.
Gospel Reading – Luke 10: 25-37
25 And
behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what
shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 He said to him, "What is
written in the law? How do you read?" 27 And he answered, "You shall
love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with
all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."
28 And he said to him, "You have answered right; do this, and you will
live."
29 But he,
desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
30 Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he
fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him
half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw
him
he passed by on the other
side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by
on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was;
and when he saw him, he had compassion, 34 and went to him and bound up his
wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought
him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two
denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him; and whatever
more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.' 36 Which of these three, do
you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" 37 He
said, "The one who showed mercy on him." And Jesus said to him,
"Go and do likewise." Prayerful
Silent Time: that the
Word of God may enter into our hearts and enlighten our life.
MEDITATIO
A Key to the Reading:
This is chapter 10 of Luke’s
Gospel. It is the central part of Luke’s Gospel, and it follows Jesus’ journey
to Jerusalem: «Now as the time drew near for him to be taken up to heaven, he
resolutely took the road for Jerusalem» (Lk 9: 51). We know that for Luke,
Jerusalem is the city where salvation will take place, and Jesus’ journey to
Jerusalem forms a central theme. Luke’s story begins in the holy city (Lk 1: 5)
and ends in the same city (Lk 24: 52). In this middle section, Luke will
repeatedly insist on the fact that Jesus is going towards Jerusalem (for
instance in Lk 13: 22; 17: 11). In this text, which tells the parable of the
good Samaritan in the context of a discussion with a doctor of the law
concerning the greatest commandment, we again find the theme of a journey, this
time from Jerusalem to Jericho (Lk 10: 30). The parable is part of this middle
section of the Gospel that begins with Jesus, a pilgrim together with his
disciples on their way to Jerusalem. He sends them ahead to prepare for him to
stop at a Samaritan village and there they only find hostility precisely
because they were on their way to Jerusalem (Lk 9: 51-53). The Samaritans
avoided pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem and were hostile to them. “After
this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him, in
pairs, to all the towns and places he himself was to visit” (Lk 10: 1).
Seventy-two is the traditional number of pagan nations.
The Fathers of the Church
(Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome and others), keeping in mind all the symbolism
associated with Jerusalem, the holy city of salvation, interpret this parable
in a particular way. In the man who goes from Jerusalem to Jericho they see
Adam who represents the whole human race expelled from Eden, the celestial
paradise, because of sin. The Fathers of the Church see the thieves as the
tempter who takes us away from God’s friendship with his wiles and who holds us
slaves in our humanity wounded by sin. In the priest and the Levite they see
the insufficiency of the old law for our salvation that will be accomplished by
our Good Samaritan, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, who, leaving the
celestial Jerusalem, comes to the aid of our sinful condition and heals us with
the oil of grace and the wine of the Spirit. In the inn, the Fathers see and
image of the Church and in the inn-keeper they see the pastors into whose hands
Jesus entrusts the care of his people, The departure of the Samaritan from the
inn is seen by the Fathers as the resurrection and ascension of Jesus to sit at
the right hand of the Father, but who promises to come back to reward each
person according to his or her merit. Jesus then leaves the two denarii to the
Church for our salvation, the two denarii that are the Sacred Scriptures and
the Sacraments that help us on our way to holiness.
This
allegorical and mystical interpretation of the text helps us to accept well the
message of this parable. The text of the parable begins with a dialogue between
a doctor of the law who stands to put the Lord to the test by asking: «Master,
what must I do to inherit eternal life?» (Lk 10: 25). Jesus replies with
another question: «What is written in the law? What do you read there?» (Lk 10:
26). We must see this dialogue as a confrontation between two masters, a thing
quite common in those days as a system of clarifying and deepening points of
law. The polemical tone prevailing here is different from that in Mark where
the question is asked by a Scribe who «had listened to them debating (Jesus and
the Sadducees), and had observed how well Jesus had answered them» (Mk 12:
28) then puts the question
to Jesus. This Scribe is well disposed to listen to Jesus, so much so that
Jesus ends the dialogue with: «You are not far from the kingdom of God» (Mk 12:
34). Matthew, however, places this question in the context of a debate between
Jesus and the Sadducees with the Pharisees present who when they “heard that he
had silenced the Sadducees they got together and, to disconcert him, one of
them put a question…” (Mt 22: 34-35). Jesus gives an immediate reply quoting
the commandment of love as found in Deuteronomy and Leviticus.
Only in Luke’s text is the
question not about which is the greatest commandment but about how to inherit
eternal life, a question dealt with again in the Synoptic Gospels on the lips
of the rich young man (Mt 19: 16; Mk 10: 17; Lk 18: 18). As in Mark, so also
here, Jesus praises the doctor of the law: «You have answered right… do this
and life is yours» (Lk 1: 28). But the doctor of the law was not yet satisfied
with Jesus’ answer and wanting «to justify himself» (Lk 10: 28) for having
asked the question asks again “and who is my neighbor”! This second question
introduces and connects the following parable with the dialogue between Jesus
and the doctor of the law. We also notice an inclusion between verse 26 that
ends the debate and leads us to the tale of the parable in verse 37, which ends
definitively the dialogue and the parable. In this verse, Jesus repeats to the
doctor of the law that he had defined the neighbor as one who was
compassionate: «Go and do the same yourself». This phrase of Jesus reminds us
of the words at the last supper as recorded in John, when, after the washing of
the feet, Jesus invites his disciples to follow his example (Jn 13: 12-15). At
the last supper, Jesus bequeaths to his disciples the commandment of love
understood as willingness “to give one’s life” in love for each other as the
Lord has loved us (Jn 15: 12-14).
This
commandment goes beyond the observance of the law. The priest and the Levite
have kept the law by not approaching the poor wounded man who is left half
dead, so as not to defile themselves (Lev 21: 1). Jesus goes beyond the law and
desires his disciples to do as he does.
«By this love you have for
one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples» (Jn 13: 35). For the
disciple of Jesus mere philanthropy is not enough. The Christian is called to
something more, which he or she accomplishes in imitation of the Master, as the
Apostle Paul said: «We are those who have the mind of Christ» (1 Cor 2: 16)
«Because the love of Christ overwhelms us when we reflect that one man has died
for all» (2 Cor 5: 14).
Some
questions:
•
What touched you most in the parable?
•
With whom in the story do you identify?
•
Have you ever thought of Jesus as the Good Samaritan?
•
Do you feel the need for salvation in your life?
•
Can you say with the apostle Paul that you have the
mind of Christ?
•
What urges you to love your neighbor? Is it the need
to love and be loved, or is it compassion and the love of Christ?
•
Who is your neighbor?
ORATIO
Canticle - 1Pt 2: 21-24
21 Christ also suffered for
you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22 He
committed no sin; no guile was found on his lips. 23 When he was reviled, he
did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he trusted
to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that
we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been
healed.
CONTEMPLATIO
Contemplation
is knowing how to adhere with one’s mind and heart to the Lord who by his Word
transforms us into new beings who always do his will. “Knowing these things,
you will be blessed if you do them.” (Jn 13: 17)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét