WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?

October 4, Monday

TWENTY-SEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

 

      Jonah is not a prophetic but a humoristic, didactic book. In an ironic way it teaches a surprising universalism: God wants also pagans to be converted. Perhaps it also teaches prophets to accept their mission and not to refuse to seek the conversion even of the sinners they may despise. Like the prophet Jonah, we sometimes run away from our mission – the mission of any Christian – to bring salvation to people everywhere, because we lack the courage which involvement and commitment demands. This commitment is a mission of love, even to strangers.

      According to an old Jewish story, a father tells his small son: “I think that God made people because he likes to tell stories and he wanted someone to tell them to.” We have Jesus with us today to tell us the immortal story of the Good Samaritan. Who is my neighbor? Anyone who needs me, whoever he or she may be. And “go and do the same.”

 

First Reading: Jonah 1:1–2:1-11

One day long ago, God’s Word came to Jonah, Amittai’s son: “Up on your feet and on your way to the big city of Nineveh! Preach to them. They’re in a bad way and I can’t ignore it any longer.”

But Jonah got up and went the other direction to Tarshish, running away from God. He went down to the port of Joppa and found a ship headed for Tarshish. He paid the fare and went on board, joining those going to Tarshish—as far away from God as he could get.

But God sent a huge storm at sea, the waves towering.

The ship was about to break into pieces. The sailors were terrified. They called out in desperation to their gods. They threw everything they were carrying overboard to lighten the ship. Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship to take a nap. He was sound asleep. The captain came to him and said, “What’s this? Sleeping! Get up! Pray to your god! Maybe your god will see we’re in trouble and rescue us.”

Then the sailors said to one another, “Let’s get to the bottom of this. Let’s draw straws to identify the culprit on this ship who’s responsible for this disaster.”

So they drew straws. Jonah got the short straw.

Then they grilled him: “Confess. Why this disaster? What is your work? Where do you come from? What country? What family?”

He told them, “I’m a Hebrew. I worship God, the God of heaven who made sea and land.”

At that, the men were frightened, really frightened, and said, “What on earth have you done!” As Jonah talked, the sailors realized that he was running away from God.

They said to him, “What are we going to do with you—to get rid of this storm?” By this time the sea was wild, totally out of control.

Jonah said, “Throw me overboard, into the sea. Then the storm will stop. It’s all my fault. I’m the cause of the storm. Get rid of me and you’ll get rid of the storm.”

But no. The men tried rowing back to shore. They made no headway. The storm only got worse and worse, wild and raging.

Then they prayed to God, “O God! Don’t let us drown because of this man’s life, and don’t blame us for his death. You are God. Do what you think is best.”

They took Jonah and threw him overboard. Immediately the sea was quieted down.

The sailors were impressed, no longer terrified by the sea, but in awe of God. They worshiped God, offered a sacrifice, and made vows.

Then God assigned a huge fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was in the fish’s belly three days and nights.

Then Jonah prayed to his God from the belly of the fish.

He prayed:

“In trouble, deep trouble, I prayed to God.
    He answered me.
From the belly of the grave I cried, ‘Help!’
    You heard my cry.
You threw me into ocean’s depths,
    into a watery grave,
With ocean waves, ocean breakers
    crashing over me.
I said, ‘I’ve been thrown away,
    thrown out, out of your sight.
I’ll never again lay eyes
    on your Holy Temple.’
Ocean gripped me by the throat.
    The ancient Abyss grabbed me and held tight.
My head was all tangled in seaweed
    at the bottom of the sea where the mountains take root.
I was as far down as a body can go,
    and the gates were slamming shut behind me forever—
Yet you pulled me up from that grave alive,
    O God, my God!
When my life was slipping away,
    I remembered God,
And my prayer got through to you,
    made it all the way to your Holy Temple.
Those who worship hollow gods, god-frauds,
    walk away from their only true love.
But I’m worshiping you, God,
    calling out in thanksgiving!
And I’ll do what I promised I’d do!
    Salvation belongs to God!”

Then God spoke to the fish, and it vomited up Jonah on the seashore.

 

Gospel: Luke 10:25-37

Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?”

He answered, “What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?”

He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.”

“Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.”

Looking for a loophole, he asked, “And just how would you define ‘neighbor’?”

Jesus answered by telling a story. “There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.

“A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I’ll pay you on my way back.’

“What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?”

“The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded.

Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”

 

Prayer

Our God and Father,
in signs and stories
your Son Jesus made it clear to us
that love of you and our neighbor
is the heart of the Christian life.
Make it indeed clear and obvious to us
that anyone in need is our neighbor
and that in serving those around us
we love and serve you,
our Lord and God for ever. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Caring for your neighbour and neighbourhood

Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. In 1979, Saint Pope John Paul II declared St. Francis the patron saint of ecology. Today is also the concluding day of the annual observation of month-long Season of Creation. The Season of Creation is an ecumenical celebration of prayer and action for caring for the nature where we live in. The season and specially this day calls on us to care for our neighbour and care for the nature that surrounds us.

Caring for our neighbour is the theme of Gospel today. The scholar of the law in the Gospel asks Jesus that famous question: “Who is my neighbour?” Jesus’ answer results in the famous parable of the Good Samaritan.

The robbers beat the man up and left him half dead. Explaining the passage, Pope Francis spoke of the attitude of being a “passer-by.” We live in a society where people tend to pass-by their neighbours without noticing their needs. The priest of the temple and the Levite who came across the half-dead man on the road-side, but preferred to pass by.

The Gospel does not say the reasons for such a heartless behaviour, but we can think of some valid reasons. The Priest and the Levite are temple officials, and if they were to touch this wounded man on the road-side, they would become unclean. It would require them to go through the purification rituals before they could get into the temple. They might be hurrying for their liturgy.

On the contrary, the Samaritan does not simply pass by. He doesn’t seem to be in a hurry. He attends to this wounded man. He got his hands dirty, got his clothes dirty. Took time to dress his wounds and take him to safety and entrusted someone to take care of him. Our responses to the needs of our neighbour is often that of passing by. We are aware that there are neighbours around us who are wounded and in distress. But we have a lot of other things to attend to. But the parable of the Good Samaritan presents a picture of a God who does not leave his wounded child on the roadside to die.

Pope Francis explains that each of us is the man there, wounded, and the Samaritan is Jesus. And he healed our wounds. He drew near to us. He took care of us. He paid for us. And he said to his Church: “But if you need more, you pay, I will come back and I will pay”. Think about this: in this passage there is the whole Gospel. Let us learn from St. Francis of Assisi to imitate Christ the Good Samaritan.

 

Video available on Youtube: Caring for your neighbour and neighbourhood