HOMILY FOR 15TH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR--7/11/10--THE GOOD SAMARITAN

 

15^TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME–7/11/10

   by Msgr. Eric R. Barr, STL

READING: LUKE 10: 25-37

I. The Road of Life

A. About 30 years ago, I was fortunate to study in the Holy Land for about 2 months. And I’ll never forget the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. In the parable you just heard, Jesus tells the story about a man going down to Jericho from Jerusalem. It was literally "down". Jerusalem is on Mt. Zion, and you have to descend nearly 2/3 of a mile to reach Jericho. That road has been a dangerous road for over 4000 years. St. Jerome called it the "Bloody Way" and as late as the 1930's travelers and tourists had to be home by night because robbers would still accost you on that road. But when I traveled it, it was a place of wonder. We traveled it at dusk, as the sun was setting and the Bedouin shepherds were lighting their fires on the hillsides. Still, I would not have wanted to have been alone on that road. The hills were close; who knew who hid behind them; I was a stranger in a strange land.

B. Jesus’ listeners knew all of that when he told this parable. And more than any other parable, this parable is open to so many different meanings. We’ve heard it so much, it seems simple, but it’s not. Listen to this: When Jesus starts his parable, which way is the man going? He’s going from Jerusalem–the City of God down to Jericho, the city of man. Jerusalem was founded by God to be his holy city. Jericho was an old town, pagan, worldly–the fog and mist of every day life often obscured the presence of God down there. I found Jericho to be a hot, humid, city very much different from Jerusalem. For Jesus, it was important that people knew that the traveler was walking the wrong way–away from God, into danger, down into a city that had known more about the things of the world than the things of God. Jesus is setting up a scene: we are like that traveler, walking unknowingly into danger, away from God–our lives are at risk. And sure enough, the powers of evil–in this case, robbers–beat the traveler, take everything he has, and leave him for dead.

II.  Be A Doer, Not Just A Thinker

A. Now it might be good to remember why Jesus is telling this story. A man has just told Jesus what it means to be a good follower of God. The man "knows" what his faith means. Now, he says to Jesus, "So, who’s my neighbor?" In other words, how does he really have to practice his faith–what’s the bottom line–what’s the least he has to do to fulfill God’s law? This isn’t an innocent question. It’s a very human one. "I know what my faith is, but how little do I really have to do to be okay with God?" That’s what the man is asking.

B. So when Jesus tells his story, he talks about a Levite and a priest walking by this injured man. They "know" their faith, but they do not "do" their faith. They leave the man dying, drenched in his own blood, along the Bloody Way from Jerusalem to Jericho. And then Jesus says the words that shocked his hearers, "Along came a Samaritan who helped the wounded man." Samaritans were the most hated people in Jesus’ day. Hated by the Romans and the Jews, they were the scum of the earth. For a Samaritan to help this dying man was amazing. Who is this Samaritan?–thought the people. Where did he get such courage, wisdom, knowledge to "do" the faith that the priest and Levite only "knew?"

C. Now stop just a minute. Every time we’ve heard this story, this is where we quit listening, thinking that we got the point–Oh, the Samaritan cared about this man who was nothing to him; we should do the same. Well, that’s part of the message, but it’s not the most fantastic part. Because, you see, we often forget who’s telling the tale. Jesus is. And what he is really saying is that he, himself, is the Samaritan. Jesus is saying, "I have come into the world with a new message about love and peace, and you have rejected me, hated me, ignored me. I am a Samaritan to you. But I have come into the world to rescue humanity, who is just like that traveler, walking the wrong way on the road of life, away from God my Father into danger. Each of you is wounded like that traveler, and like the Samaritan, I, Jesus, who am rejected by you, have found you dying and have come to save you."

D. So what does this Good Samaritan, this Jesus, do with the wounded traveler? He is moved with pity; he bandages the wounds; he carries the traveler to an inn. Just like that famous poem, "Footprints," Jesus carries us when we can no longer go on, when we are wounded by confusion, sin or despair. So if the Good Samaritan is Jesus, who is the innkeeper and the inn? Should be pretty simple to figure out. The innkeeper and the inn represent the Church. Christ saves humanity and gives human beings into the care of the Church. And Jesus says to the Church, "When I come back, I will repay you for what you have done." That’s why Jesus finishes his parable with a question, "Which of the three–priest, Levite, or Samaritan–was the real neighbor–really did his faith?" And the man who originally asked the question, says the Samaritan. And Jesus says, "Go and do likewise." In other words, he tells us, "You know your faith, now do it! You are the Church, act like I do! I have shown you the way, now don’t just think about it, live it!"

III.The Church Is The Place Of Safety And Of Mission

A. The key to this parable is that Christ entrusts wounded humanity, that’s all human beings, to the Church. We are to do what Christ did. The stuff that makes up our faith like the Commandments and other things we must believe is only the foundation. We have to act upon it. And there is strength being in the Church. We also are wounded and hurt at times–we need others to help us. And when we are better, we are sent by the Church to others who are wounded so that we can heal them and help them.

B. I have been blessed in the past 30 years with the opportunity to travel to a fair number of places around the world. It is an interesting experience to walk out of your hotel room, across the street of a strange town to the local Catholic Church, just sit in the pew and watch this huge church fill with people, young and old, families and single folks, and hear the same Gospel, pray the same prayers, hear the same values, receive the same Christ as you people did back here? No matter where I go in the world, the Church is. No matter where I travel, I can find others like me who believe in the same Jesus Christ. And so though I missed friends and relatives, I really wasn’t alone and actually still was united with you. Like those Motel 6's and Holiday Inns that dot the country–same place, different location. The Church tells us that Christ and his people are everywhere–we are never lonely travelers. That comforts me, and it helps me to be less like the traveler in the parable who was walking the wrong way on the road to life, down to Jericho, into danger, vulnerable to evil, and more like the Good Samaritan, out on the road of life looking for folks who need help, who need some love and care, who need the Church. Rather than being set upon by robbers, I can be the one who saves people. So can you, so can we all. The inn that the Good Samaritan took the wounded man is the same place you and I are right now–the Church. The main message today is simple but profound: Know your faith; do your faith; and pass on the faith aware that you belong to Christ’s Church–the inn by the side of the road that offers faith in action–love, mercy and healing.

Comments

[janong]

nice homily

[Laura Berry]

Thank you for this!

http://workingcatholics.wordpress.com/

[Kathy]

Thank you for this. It was exactly what I needed to hear, that even though what I am doing is not what everyone else would do, it is the right thing to do. I always find your homilies inspiring.