A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 10:25-37)
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.”
Today’s Gospel makes clear that the language God uses to speak to his people is mercy. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus illustrates for the scholar what it means to be a neighbor. First a priest and then a Levite approach a victim lying in the road, but they see the man and pass him on the opposite side. As models caretakers of worship and the Temple, they would be expected also to be model neighbors. Instead, a Samaritan helps the victim. In other passages in the Gospel, as when Jesus tries to pass through a Samaritan village to reach Jerusalem, the Samaritans are anything but welcoming, and Jesus finds another way to reach the city. In the same way, God’s mercy—if not expressed through his chosen people, the Israelites—finds another way through the love and care the Samaritan provides for the victim. What does cooperation with God’s grace do for our relationships with neighbors?
Father in heaven, eternal life seems far off, and here it is sometimes hard to love. Within the turmoil of this life, I forget to be loving or choose not to love. Yet, in this state of exile, you hear my prayer just as you heard the prayers of Jonah: “From the belly of the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD, his God.” And from the responsorial psalm, I hear: “Out of my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me; From the midst of the nether world I cried for help, and you heard my voice.” Hear me, Lord, as I encounter my neighbor many times over today and have the opportunity to show compassion in return as you have been compassionate to me. Where I tend to accuse, show me how to forgive; when I am tempted to wound with words, teach me to heal; and when I am inclined to deny who my neighbor is, help me instead be welcoming and merciful.
From the Gospel acclamation: “I give you a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you.” Lord, be merciful; help me show mercy in return.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.