Reflection for Monday, 27th week in Ordinary Time

By


Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Rector and Parish Priest
Don Bosco Shrine
Lingarajapuram, Bangalore

Memoria of St. Francis of Assisi


Today's Reflection

In Today’s Gospel a Lawyer-

Theologian Poses a Problem to JESUS about Everlasting Life, the Deepest & Most Serious of All Theological Questions. On Hearing the Love-Commandment & how We are Required to Love Our Neighbour, the Theologian Asks a Question to which HE already must Know the Answer. He Asks, “Who is My Neighbour?” For an Answer JESUS Instances the Samaritans, a People who were Despised & Rejected by Israel as Heretics & Spoilers of the Torah.


Who would be Today’s Equivalent to This “Samaritan” Neighbour, Those We Hate or Look Down on, who are Ignorant & Wilfully Wrong, who have Harmed Us & Taken Advantage of Us? Listen, JESUS Says, Listen to Them as They Teach U how to Pray & to Follow GOD'S Holy Will.

Listen as They Silently Turn Aside & Care for Their Wounded Enemy along the Road. Listen, because We who are Correct can be so Biased & Self-Righteous, so Proud & Pious that We Miss the Signals of Wonder & Goodness Flashed through the Darkness to Keep Us on the Course of GOD'S Blessed Will.


2 Interlinked Questions


In Today’s Gospel a Lawyer Asks JESUS to Very Important Questions. The 1st was, “What must I Do to Inherit Eternal Life?” Subsequently He Asked, “Who is My Neighbour?” In Reply to that 2nd Question JESUS Tells the Parable of the Good Samaritan. But the Parable Doesn’t Explicitly Way who the Neighbour is. Rather It Raises Another Question, “Which of these 3 Proved Himself a Neighbour?” In Other Words, the Parable Addresses the Question on a Practical rather than a Theoretical Level what It Actually Means to be a Neighbour, in Action. It Suggests that It is More Important to Prove Oneself a Neighbour to Others than to Define “Who is My Neighbour?”


The Implicit Answer to the Lawyer’s 1st Question, on how to Inherit Eternal Life, is “Be a Caring Neighbour.” If U Want to Know what It Means to be a Neighbour, Practice the Samaritan’s Compassion. What the Priest, the Levite & the Samaritan all had in Common is that They All Noticed the Wounded Man Lying on the Roadside. What Distinguished the Samaritan is that He Responded to what He Saw. His Seeing Led to an Act of Compassion. It is the Kind of Seeing that Characterized JESUS' Ministry. The Real Answer to the Lawyer’s 1st Question is “Be a Neighbour in the Way that I am.”


Good Morning

Happy Feast of St. Francis of Assisi to U All.

GOD Bless Us All Today