Two sides of the human heart.

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Gospel: Luke 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.”
He replied to him, “You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live.”

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, 
“And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus replied, 
“A man fell victim to robbers
as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down that road,
but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise a Levite came to the place,
and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal,
took him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,
‘Take care of him.
If you spend more than what I have given you,
I shall repay you on my way back.’
Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?”
He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.”
Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Mother Teresa was once walking the streets of Calcutta, when suddenly she passed by a homeless man dying on the street.

He smelled sour. Maggots were nibbling on his body.

Naturally, she became repulsed by the sight and smell, so she moved to the other side of the street in order to avoid him and go about her day.

But within a matter of seconds, she regretted her instincts as she remembered Christ’s words, “Whatever you do unto the least of my brothers and sisters, you do to me.” 

This man was Jesus in a sour, disfigured disguise.

So, she turned around and knelt next to him. He was so starved that Mother Teresa – a woman barely five feet tall – was able to pick him up and carry him back to her home for the dying.

Upon arriving, the man looked up into her eyes and breathed his last.

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Within that short, powerful vignette, we find two sides of the human heart. 

There’s our natural, instinctive side that ignores other people’s suffering; that urges us not to get our hands dirty; that says we cannot make a difference in the grander scheme of things; that stays focused on our own schedule and our own needs.

Then there’s the side pierced by faith.

The Holy Spirit moved Mother Teresa’s heart that day, reminding her that every person on earth can be considered her neighbor, even a helpless man dying on the streets.

Looking back, Mother Teresa said, “We can do nothing extraordinary, only ordinary things with extraordinary love.”

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How can I access that pierced side of my heart and follow her example, loving my neighbor in an ordinary way with extraordinary love?

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Whatever we do to that person, we do to Christ himself.

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