A Homily - The Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C)

First Reading – Genesis 18:20-32 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 137(138):1-3,6-8 ©

Second Reading – Colossians 2:12-14 ©

Gospel Acclamation – John 1:14, 12

Alternative Acclamation – Romans 8:15

The Gospel According to Luke - 11:1 - 13 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

This is the way:

Speak the truth, love justice and seek mercy all the days of your life; insofar as you are able to do this you show your love for God.

Consider the Shema:

Hear O’ people of the world, God is one.

Love God with all your strength, all your heart and all your mind…and love your neighbor as yourself; this is the whole of the law.

It is right to praise God, the creator of the universe; it is right to lift your voice in witness to any acts of mercy you may see, because mercy is what God desires more than anything…more than all of our creeds and confessions and ritual pieties.

Trust God, who does not desire glory; have faith in God’s humility.

Understand this.

God made us and the entirety of creations in a state of radical freedom and will not intervene in the material order of the universe, including our affairs; do not expect God to take sides in our struggles with one another, even in the face of true evil…because the salvation we are promised is not of this world, and the whole of sin and evil are bound to time and space.

Know this!

Baptism is a right of initiation, it signifies the intention of the individual to follow the way that Jesus instructed us to follow. It does not confer a special status on us or give us any special powers. Baptism does not confer extraordinary grace or enhance God’s love for us or desire to see us well and whole.

As scripture says:

God has forgiven us our sins, God forgave them at the beginning, in the first moment of creation God knew all that we would become and accepted us for who we are.

God’s love is free as with the love of a parent for a child, there is no debt and there never was; there were no accounts to settle.

Do not repeat John’s errors; be mindful of the fact that we are all born the children of God, every single one of us. We are not made into the children of God by any power (mundane or divine), not by any power that comes from within us, nor external to us…we come into being as children of God, in the Word, by the Word and through the Word.

Our status as children of God is as unconditional as God’s love for us; we are loved because we are.

Remember!

God is the cosmic parent; father, mother and we are the children of God, each and every one of us, not by adoption but by birth; God’s spirit dwells within us, animating us, speaking to us from the recesses of our heart.

When you look on your mother and father, your brother and sister, your friends and family, when you see the stranger in your midst, you are looking on a child of God, a person who carries the fullness of God within them, therefore treat them as you would treat God; love them, be just to them, honor them, show them mercy in a spirit of contrition and humility

Consider today’s reading from the Gospel of Luke, and know this:

Christians pray a version of this prayer every day, every week, every time they are at mass; at every hour of every day this prayer is said in churches all around the world. It is quite possible that not a minute goes by without this prayer being said somewhere.

God is the creator of all that is, of everyone who is, ever was and ever will be.

God is not a king, a lord or a prince, God’s heart does not have the capriciousness of royalty, and because of this we pray that God’s eternal will serve as the measure of our lives. We thank God for the life and the foods that sustain us, work toward a time when no person will be hungry, thirsty or bound by chains.

The first act of someone who follows the way is to repent…to repent means simply to return to God; from our desire to repent we forgive those by whom we have been hurt, love them and work toward a reconciliation with them. This is the way that Jesus walked.

First Reading – Genesis 18:20-32 ©

Abraham Negotiates with the Lord

The Lord said, ‘How great an outcry there is against Sodom and Gomorrah! How grievous is their sin! I propose to go down and see whether or not they have done all that is alleged in the outcry against them that has come up to me. I am determined to know.’

The men left there and went to Sodom while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Approaching him he said, ‘Are you really going to destroy the just man with the sinner? Perhaps there are fifty just men in the town. Will you really overwhelm them, will you not spare the place for the fifty just men in it? Do not think of doing such a thing: to kill the just man with the sinner, treating just and sinner alike! Do not think of it! Will the judge of the whole earth not administer justice?’ the Lord replied, ‘If at Sodom I find fifty just men in the town, I will spare the whole place because of them.’

 Abraham replied, ‘I am bold indeed to speak like this to my Lord, I who am dust and ashes. But perhaps the fifty just men lack five: will you destroy the whole city for five?’ ‘No,’ he replied ‘I will not destroy it if I find forty-five just men there.’ Again Abraham said to him, ‘Perhaps there will only be forty there.’ ‘I will not do it’ he replied ‘for the sake of the forty.’

  Abraham said, ‘I trust my Lord will not be angry, but give me leave to speak: perhaps there will only be thirty there.’ ‘I will not do it’ he replied ‘if I find thirty there.’ He said, ‘I am bold indeed to speak like this, but perhaps there will only be twenty there.’ ‘I will not destroy it’ he replied ‘for the sake of the twenty.’ He said, ‘I trust my Lord will not be angry if I speak once more: perhaps there will only be ten.’ ‘I will not destroy it’ he replied ‘for the sake of the ten.’

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 137(138):1-3,6-8 ©

On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.

I thank you, Lord, with all my heart:

  you have heard the words of my mouth.

In the presence of the angels I will bless you.

  I will adore before your holy temple.

On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.

I thank you for your faithfulness and love,

  which excel all we ever knew of you.

On the day I called, you answered;

  you increased the strength of my soul.

On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.

The Lord is high yet he looks on the lowly

  and the haughty he knows from afar.

Though I walk in the midst of affliction

  you give me life and frustrate my foes.

On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.

You stretch out your hand and save me,

  your hand will do all things for me.

Your love, O Lord, is eternal,

  discard not the work of your hands.

On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.

 

Second Reading – Colossians 2:12-14 ©

Christ Has Brought You to Life with Him and Forgiven Us All Our Sins

You have been buried with Christ, when you were baptised; and by baptism, too, you have been raised up with him through your belief in the power of God who raised him from the dead. You were dead, because you were sinners and had not been circumcised: he has brought you to life with him, he has forgiven us all our sins.

  He has overridden the Law, and cancelled every record of the debt that we had to pay; he has done away with it by nailing it to the cross.

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 1:14, 12

Alleluia, alleluia!

The Word was made flesh and lived among us:

to all who did accept him he gave power to become children of God.

Alleluia!

 

Alternative Acclamation – Romans 8:15

Alleluia, alleluia!

The spirit you received is the spirit of sons, and it makes us cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Luke - 11:1 - 13 ©

How to Pray

Once Jesus was in a certain place praying, and when he had finished one of his disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’ He said to them, ‘Say this when you pray:

 

“Father, may your name be held holy,

your kingdom come;

give us each day our daily bread,

and forgive us our sins,

for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us.

and do not put us to the test.”’

 

He also said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him in the middle of the night to say, “My friend, lend me three loaves, because a friend of mine on his travels has just arrived at my house and I have nothing to offer him”; and the man answers from inside the house, “Do not bother me. The door is bolted now, and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up to give it you.” I tell you, if the man does not get up and give it him for friendship’s sake, persistence will be enough to make him get up and give his friend all he wants.

  ‘So I say to you: Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him. What father among you would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or hand him a snake instead of a fish? Or hand him a scorpion if he asked for an egg? If you then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’

 

A Homily - The Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C)

A Homily – The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

First Reading – Genesis 18:1-10 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 14(15):2-5 ©

Second Reading – Colossians 1:24-28 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Acts 16:14

Alternative Acclamation – Luke 8:15

The Gospel According to Luke – 10:38 - 42 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

God, the creator of the universe, is not a God of flesh and blood; neither does the divine spirit eat flesh, drink milk, eat bread or drink water.

This narrative from Genesis is a metaphor, as is all of the mythology pertaining to the patriarchs, they represent a continuous appeal to uphold the ancient and international laws of hospitality, to treat the strangers who come to the land as if they themselves were God, and so to treat them as you would if Jesus himself appeared at your door, to treat them well, treat them kindly, honor them as if they were your closest friends and dearest family. The scriptures ask us to honor the strangers among us as if they were God, and to do so in recognition of the reality that God in fact dwells within them.

Be mindful.

God has made each of us and the whole of creation free, the future is not set. God, who created the universe is the author of law and all-good-order. God does not interfere or intervene in the lives of God’s children…God did not cause Sarah to become pregnant, nor did God restore her barren womb. There is another story being told here…pray, that you may discern it.

Read every Psalm with the knowledge of this in your heart:

All of God’s children are welcomed home; God forgets no-one and loves us all…God loves each and every one of us and has a plan for our salvation; our salvation is not of this world, and God will not fail.

God dwells in the heart of every person, and where God is present God is present fully…a just life is its own reward.

Know this!

The just and the unjust are loved by God in equal measure.

If we become the servant of one another out of love, if through a great undertaking, such as the organization of a charity, a mission or a church, and because of our efforts we find that we must endure some suffering, as regrettable as it might be, this is type of suffering is not a bad thing.

If we are persecuted, or beaten for speaking the truth, it is not a bad thing; it is a sad thing, but it redounds to the good…it is good to stand for the rights and dignity of others, even if you are persecuted for doing so.

Consider the teaching of the apostle knowing that we should not seek out suffering for its own sake, neither our suffering or the suffering of others should be desired as a stratagem for the advancement of a specific end; suffering is not good in itself and God does not desire it, even though it is laudable when endured for the sake of the good.

If you are persecuted for following the way, if you are taken advantage of for doing something good, be comforted by the fact that you have done a good thing and the way is intact…there is a blessing in that.

Be mindful.

God dwells in the heart of every person; God is with you, and God listens; God whispers to us there: seek justice, love mercy, speak the truth and be good, be kind to people and patient no matter who you are dealing with.

Do unto others what you would have them do unto you; love God with all your strength and all your heart and all your mind, to love your neighbor as yourself…this is the whole of the law.

Remember!

We all have work to do. Every day there is work to do, to maintain a business or a household there is cooking, there is cleaning, there are chores and tasks that never end. In the midst of our  work we are confronted with the reality of who we are, of who we are as individual people with individual needs. We discover that our personal needs are multi-valanced; there are material needs, there are emotional needs, there are intellectual needs and there are spiritual needs.

The particularities of our needs are unique to us as individuals, though there are few of them that we can meet on our own; we are intended to meet them in relationship to one another.

Most of us can meet our material needs: food, clothing, shelter; these abilities are dialed in (again, for most of us). Our intellectual needs can be met in conversation, or reading a book. Meeting our emotional needs can be a little more difficult, because it requires that we have other people around us whom we trust and relate to, but the most difficult help to encounter is that of a genuine spiritual teacher.

Be mindful.

Our spiritual life is directly linked to every other aspect of our life; it is possible to find spiritual satisfaction in a meal, a conversation or an emotional connection.

Our spiritual life may be exploited through these interconnections by ritual and dogma in such a way that it may inure us to our actual spiritual state. If we are so fortunate as to find ourselves in the presence of a true spiritual teacher, this is a time to receive illumination through their understanding circumstance you share; it requires mindfulness, self-cognizance and perception to recognize when you are there…the teacher may be anyone.

In order to benefit from the wisdom that flows from them, you must have intention, the will and determination to act; it requires humility, being open to failure, a willingness to forgive and be forgiven, the desire to be loved.

First Reading – Genesis 18:1-10 ©

'Next Year Your Wife Sarah Will Have a Son'

The Lord appeared to Abraham at the Oak of Mamre while he was sitting by the entrance of the tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up, and there he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, and bowed to the ground. ‘My lord,’ he said ‘I beg you, if I find favour with you, kindly do not pass your servant by. A little water shall be brought; you shall wash your feet and lie down under the tree. Let me fetch a little bread and you shall refresh yourselves before going further. That is why you have come in your servant’s direction.’ They replied, ‘Do as you say.’

Abraham hastened to the tent to find Sarah.’ ‘Hurry,’ he said ‘knead three bushels of flour and make loaves.’ Then running to the cattle Abraham took a fine and tender calf and gave it to the servant, who hurried to prepare it. Then taking cream, milk and the calf he had prepared, he laid all before them, and they ate while he remained standing near them under the tree.

‘Where is your wife Sarah?’ they asked him. ‘She is in the tent’ he replied. Then his guest said, ‘I shall visit you again next year without fail, and your wife will then have a son.’

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 14(15):2-5 ©

The just will live in the presence of the Lord.

Lord, who shall dwell on your holy mountain?

He who walks without fault;

he who acts with justice

and speaks the truth from his heart;

he who does not slander with his tongue.

The just will live in the presence of the Lord.

He who does no wrong to his brother,

who casts no slur on his neighbour,

who holds the godless in disdain,

but honours those who fear the Lord.

The just will live in the presence of the Lord.

He who keeps his pledge, come what may;

who takes no interest on a loan

and accepts no bribes against the innocent.

Such a man will stand firm for ever.

The just will live in the presence of the Lord.

 

Second Reading – Colossians 1:24-28 ©

A Mystery Hidden for Generations has Been Revealed to God's Saints

It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church. I became the servant of the Church when God made me responsible for delivering God’s message to you, the message which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries and has now been revealed to his saints. It was God’s purpose to reveal it to them and to show all the rich glory of this mystery to pagans. The mystery is Christ among you, your hope of glory: this is the Christ we proclaim, this is the wisdom in which we thoroughly train everyone and instruct everyone, to make them all perfect in Christ.

 

Gospel Acclamation – Acts 16:14

Alleluia, alleluia!

Open our heart, O Lord, to accept the words of your Son.

Alleluia!

 

Alternative Acclamation – Luke 8:15

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessed are those who, with a noble and generous heart, take the word of God to themselves

and yield a harvest through their perseverance.

Alleluia!

The Gospel According to Luke – 10:38 - 42 ©

Martha Works; Mary Listens

Jesus came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha who was distracted with all the serving said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.’ But the Lord answered: ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said ‘you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.’

 

A Homily – The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

A Homily – The Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

First Reading – Deuteronomy 30:10-14 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 68(69):14,17, 30-31, 33-34, 36-37 ©

Second Reading – Colossians 1:15-20 ©

Gospel Acclamation – John 10:27

Alternative Acclamation – John 6:63, 68

The Gospel According to Luke 10:25 – 37 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

God has made us capable of rising to the demands of conscience, and will not test us in ways that we are not prepared to handle.

If we believe that “the law” has been written in keeping with the will of God, we can only hold this to be true insofar as it promotes love and kindness, mercy and forbearance, compassion and humility…the law is the way, and the way is meant to keep us well; holiness is not its objective, except insofar as holiness is the natural evolution of love.

God’s law is written in our hearts, listen and you can hear the spirit of God preaching on it there.

Be mindful!

God has made us free and will not intervene in our lives, either to help us or deter us…do not look to God for help in this world; you must help yourself, rely on you family, your friends and your neighbors, you may even have to rely on the stranger to help you even though God has given you the strength to persevere any hardship. God has given you hope to lead you through and given you the freedom to do anything…or to do nothing at all.

If your family and friends have turned against you; look inward and ask yourself why.

Understand this.

God desires praise and worship more than animal sacrifices, but even praise and worship are next to nothing compared to God’s desire for justice and compassion, for love and for mercy, patience and kindness.

 Consider the teaching of the apostle; he sees in Jesus the image of the unseen, unknowable and un-nameable God, telling us what the writers of John’s Gospel affirm: that all things are created in Christ, the Word of God, and all things redound to God in the end.

 All things are created through God and made for God’s purpose; all principalities and all powers, all of the poor, all of the alienated and all of those who suffer were created by God and are each of them equally objects of God’s love.

 Know this!

 God does not appoint the princes and powers of the world, God does not lift them up or take them down, God does not assign suffering to any, but nevertheless God transforms all of the free choices made within God’s free creation into alignment with God’s purpose for the whole.

 God holds all things together within the unity of God’s being.

 Be mindful.

 The sheep do not choose the shepherd; the shepherd chooses the sheep, and everything belongs to God in whom all that is, comes to be. The shepherd is God and there is no other, there is one shepherd and one sheepfold…the universe God has created.

 Listen for the voice of the shepherd, and do not trouble yourself with how the shepherd speaks to you, in what language, in what text. It is not your concern how the shepherd speaks to your sister or your brother, to your neighbors or the stranger. The shepherd is speaking to them to, and they are listening as they are willing and able.

 Everyone that is, everyone without exception, all of us walk with God; God walks with everyone, there is no other way.

 Do not trouble yourself if you do not understand the journey another person is on, just know that God is guiding them, as God is guiding you with wisdom and reason and grace.

 If you resist…God will be patient; God will wait for you as God waits for everyone. God will wait for you because God loves you, as Jesus showed us; lovingly, patiently and kindly.

 Have faith.

 God will not lose a single one of us. Neither will any one of us lose the love of God.

 Consider the early church and how it went astray, and many have suffered because it did. Consider the significant ways in which the church deviated from the teaching of Jesus and the lived experience of the way which he taught.

 Think of Saint Peter, who would have us believe that he follows Jesus because Jesus has the secret message of eternal life, as if this were the purpose of the gospel, as if the simple act of “believing” that Jesus is the “Holy One of God” is the key to life.

 The writers of John’s Gospel tell us that God parcels out access to Jesus, and the truth, that God is parsimonious with the knowledge that leads to the reality of life everlasting, allowing some to come to it, while refusing others…none of this scheme is true.

 Here is the gospel, here is the really good news; God loves you, you are saved and that is it.

 You are not saved for anything that you have done, you did not earn your salvation, you are saved because God loves you.

 The promise of salvation is not that you will be spared from suffering and torment in hell, or that when you are judged God will forgive you…God has already forgiven you; you have already been judged and found worthy; the fact that you are is the evidence of it…you are already saved.

 God has prepared you, and everyone for eternal life…believe it!

 Let the goodness of God’s promise flow through you now and start living this life as if it you believed God’s promise were true; this is the essence of faith.

 We are not called to believe in the idea that Jesus is this or that, or called to believe that Jesus is the “Holy One of God,” we are called to act on the principles of his faith, to live lives of charity and service to each other, we are called to follow the way.

 Be mindful!

 Today’s gospel calls on us to examine the depths of our conscience; now consider this exchange between Jesus and the lawyer presented here today.

 Jesus’ interlocutor asks him what he must do to gain eternal life.

 This man; a lawyer, was looking to gain possession of something beyond himself, looking to acquire it through some deed, some set of action, perhaps through a “way” of life, or perhaps even simply by thinking about things in the “right” way, having the “right” beliefs, or the “right” doctrine.

 Jesus does not answer his question directly; he does not tell him what he must do to have “eternal” life, rather he directs the lawyer to summarize his understanding of the law.

 The lawyer knows what Jesus is looking for and he recites the Shema, which formed the core of Jesus’ teaching from the beginning of his ministry and throughout. He taught the Shema as an articulation of the way, which is to love God above all things, and to do so by loving your neighbor as you love yourself…Jesus tells him that if he does this he will have life, true life in the here and now.

 The lawyer becomes confused, and so Jesus illustrates his point in the narrative that follows: through the parable that has come to be known as that of the “Good Samaritan.”

 It is the story about a man who is suffering and near death. Two people pass him on the road, one of the men is a priest and the other is a member of a notable tribe, they see him and ignore him; they offer no help.

 The reason for their inaction is not given, but it has been commonly understood that both the priest and the Levite feared something: perhaps they feared violence, or they might have feared coming in contact with his wounds, because contact with blood would have placed them in a state of ritual impurity...whatever the case may be, they feared something and did not help him; they were unable to see his suffering reflected in themselves.

 Then, down the road comes a man from Samaria who stops and tends to the wounded man, then he provides for his recovery at a nearby inn. This man has no connection to the unfortunate one, but he acts on his behalf anyway.

 It is likely that he, like the other two, was also afraid, but the Samaritan was able to set aside his fear in order to serve the good.

 The kindness of the Samaritan represents the essence of true life, succumbing to fear is the road that leads to death…this is a teaching for the ages, it is the constant human struggle between hope and fear...for as long as we are embodied beings it will never leave us, thogh we can master it and when we do we have found the way.

First Reading – Deuteronomy 30:10-14 ©

The Law is not Beyond Your Strength or Beyond Your Reach

Moses said to the people: ‘Obey the voice of the Lord your God, keeping those commandments and laws of his that are written in the Book of this Law, and you shall return to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.

‘For this Law that I enjoin on you today is not beyond your strength or beyond your reach. It is not in heaven, so that you need to wonder, “Who will go up to heaven for us and bring it down to us, so that we may hear it and keep it?” Nor is it beyond the seas, so that you need to wonder, “Who will cross the seas for us and bring it back to us, so that we may hear it and keep it?” No, the Word is very near to you, it is in your mouth and in your heart for your observance.’

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 68(69):14,17, 30-31, 33-34, 36-37 ©

Seek the Lord, you who are poor, and your hearts will revive

This is my prayer to you,

  my prayer for your favour.

In your great love, answer me, O God,

  with your help that never fails:

Lord, answer, for your love is kind;

  in your compassion, turn towards me.

Seek the Lord, you who are poor, and your hearts will revive

As for me in my poverty and pain

  let your help, O God, lift me up.

I will praise God’s name with a song;

  I will glorify him with thanksgiving.

Seek the Lord, you who are poor, and your hearts will revive

The poor when they see it will be glad

  and God-seeking hearts will revive;

for the Lord listens to the needy

  and does not spurn his servants in their chains.

Seek the Lord, you who are poor, and your hearts will revive

For God will bring help to Zion

  and rebuild the cities of Judah

  and men shall dwell there in possession.

The sons of his servants shall inherit it;

  those who love his name shall dwell there.

Seek the Lord, you who are poor, and your hearts will revive

 

Second Reading – Colossians 1:15-20 ©

All Things Were Created Through Christ and for Christ

Christ Jesus is the image of the unseen God and the first-born of all creation, for in him were created all things in heaven and on earth:

Everything visible and everything invisible, Thrones, Dominations, Sovereignties, Powers –

all things were created through him and for him.

Before anything was created, he existed, and he holds all things in unity.

Now the Church is his body, he is its head.

As he is the Beginning, he was first to be born from the dead, so that he should be first in every way; because God wanted all perfection to be found in him and all things to be reconciled through him and for him, everything in heaven and everything on earth, when he made peace by his death on the cross.

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 10:27

Alleluia, alleluia!

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice, says the Lord, I know them and they follow me.

Alleluia!

 

Alternative Acclamation – John 6:63, 68

Alleluia, alleluia!

Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life; you have the message of eternal life.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Luke 10:25 – 37 ©

The Good Samaritan

There was a lawyer who, to disconcert Jesus, stood up and said to him, ‘Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the Law? What do you read there?’ He replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.’ ‘You have answered right,’ said Jesus ‘do this and life is yours.’

  But the man was anxious to justify himself and said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ Jesus replied, ‘A man was once on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of brigands; they took all he had, beat him and then made off, leaving him half dead. Now a priest happened to be travelling down the same road, but when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite who came to the place saw him, and passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan traveller who came upon him was moved with compassion when he saw him. He went up and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He then lifted him on to his own mount, carried him to the inn and looked after him. Next day, he took out two denarii and handed them to the innkeeper. “Look after him,” he said “and on my way back I will make good any extra expense you have.” Which of these three, do you think, proved himself a neighbour to the man who fell into the brigands‘ hands?’ ‘The one who took pity on him’ he replied. Jesus said to him, ‘Go, and do the same yourself.’

 

A Homily – The Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Observation - July 10th, 2025, Thursday

darkening clouds

west above the lakes

the air is thick with moisture