Hear the word of the LORD, princes of Sodom! Listen to the instruction of our God, people of Gomorrah! What care I for the number of your sacrifices? says the LORD. I have had enough of whole-burnt rams and fat of fatlings; In the blood of calves, lambs and goats I find no pleasure.
When you come in to visit me, who asks these things of you? Trample my courts no more! Bring no more worthless offerings; your incense is loathsome to me. New moon and sabbath, calling of assemblies, octaves with wickedness: these I cannot bear. Your new moons and festivals I detest; they weigh me down, I tire of the load. When you spread out your hands, I close my eyes to you; Though you pray the more, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood! Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.
The Word of the Lord.
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Some of you know I’ve developed a love for golf. Learning how to hit that little white ball seems so simple. But ask any golfer and they will tell you, “It’s much harder than it looks.”
First, you have to learn how to hold the club. Then, you need the right alignment. Pick your target line. Draw your club back. Rotate your core. Bend your wrists. Begin the downswing. Strike the ball dead center, keep your head straight…and…Hope for the best.
What’s the point? A correct golf swing is a mind-body movement that demands all of your attention… and a good amount of free time.
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Think about the spiritual life in similar terms.
God wants our mind, body, and heart to be in sync, much like a good golf swing.
But, at times, we go through the motions. We say our rosary while our mind drifts; we perform an act of charity out of obligation; we avoid sinning out of fear of retribution. Our mind, body, and heart aren’t always in sync.
Israel was sometimes guilty of this. A faithful Jew was a “law-abiding” believer; they could wash their hands before meals, keep the Sabbath, and recite scripture mindlessly while their hearts drifted from the Lord.
As the Lord says through the prophet Isaiah, “Bring no more worthless offerings.” What the Lord wants is their – and our – total focus in mind, body, and heart.
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So, how might I break that habit of going through the motions? In what ways can I become more mindful about my spiritual life?
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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A few years ago, a twelve-year-old Palestinian boy, Ahmad Khatib, was shot by Israeli soldiers during street fighting near his house in a refugee camp in the West Bank.
The boy was found holding a toy gun. He was taken to an Israeli hospital, where he was pronounced dead two days later. His mother decided to donate his organs.
As a result, six Israeli lives were saved.
One of them was another twelve-year-old: an Israeli girl who had waited five years for a heart transplant.
When Ahmad’s mother found out who the recipient was, she said, “Part of our son will live. We gave life to someone else. We proved that we want peace.”
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Israelis and Palestinians have a deep, complex history. And, in many cases, a clear sense of hatred for the other side. We see the fruit of that on the nightly news. A journalist is shot. Rockets are launched. Protests grip the streets. A child’s blood is spilled.
Imagine the love Ahmad’s mother demonstrated when she offered her son’s organs to Israelis.
That’s the essence of the Good Samaritan, which Jesus offers us in today’s Gospel. When your enemy becomes your neighbor, when you do good to those who hate you, then you’ve satisfied the Law.
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The parable of the Good Samaritan is guided by this question: “Who is my neighbor?”
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Most Jews held a very exclusive idea of a “neighbor.” Your neighbors were only other Jews. We might say today, those who look, think, act, and believe like you do.
Anyone else was a Gentile, a “non-neighbor,” someone who could – and some Jews believed should – be ignored.
The problem is that the traveler in the parable is also a fellow Jew. He’s walking alone from Jerusalem down to Jericho. Along the way he’s robbed, beaten, and left for dead.
If he’s a fellow Jew, then why would the priest and Levite pass him by?
One possibility is that neither wanted to become ritually impure. If either came to the traveler’s aid – or buried his body – then under the Law neither could enter the Temple for seven days.
Caring for a dead man’s body would’ve been an… inconvenience.
This also could’ve been a trap. The road leading down from Jerusalem into Jericho was incredibly dangerous. It was a steep, curvy road, which was perfectly designed for an ambush. Robberies were so common that it became known as, “The Bloody Way.”
Both the priest the Levite could’ve reasoned that this man was just pretending to be dead; if either came to his aid, then they could’ve been robbed.
Then there’s a third possibility.
These men might’ve thought to themselves, “That traveler deserves it.”
Again, this road was notorious for crime. Whenever people carried valuables out of Jerusalem into Jericho, they walked in caravans to fend off thieves and robbers. This guy was traveling along “The Bloody Way” alone.
He was foolish.
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Then the least likely person comes to his aid. Not a priest; not a Levite; not his Jewish “neighbor.”
A Samaritan.
This Samaritan not only saved the traveler’s life; he also paid the inn-keeper to nurse him back to health. And he did so anonymously; he had no need for praise or recognition. Nor would he ever meet this Jewish man again.
The Samaritan’s actions reveal who our neighbors are: anyone who needs our help, regardless of their race, politics, or creed.
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That depth of love reminds me of Ahmad Khatib’s mother, who shared her son’s organs so that Israelis might live.
Did her sacrifice end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
Of course not.
But she became a “good Samaritan,” turning some hatred into love.
That’s the example the Lord invites all of us to follow.
So, who do I find difficult to love? Or, where do I need to expand my view of a “neighbor”?
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By God’s grace, may we all work for peace, turning some darkness into light; some bitterness into love.
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Image credits: (1) Indian Defense Review (2) The Good Samaritan, Jan Wijnants (3) Newsweek
At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.'”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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A young girl was walking with her father along a beach the morning after a terrible storm blew through, leaving thousands of starfish strewn across the sand.
Suddenly, the girl let go of her father’s hand, walked to the water’s edge and began tossing the starfish back into the sea, one by one.
After several minutes, the father walked over to her and said, “Okay, sweetie, it’s time to go home.”
“But dad,” she said, “all of these starfish will die if we leave them here in the sun!”
“You can’t save them all,” he said. “Saving a few won’t make much of a difference.”
The girl, looking deflated, stood still for a moment. Then she bent over, picked up a starfish, tossed it back into the sea, and said:
“Well, for that one, I just made ALL the difference!”
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Sometimes when we see the big picture, we get overwhelmed.
A beach strewn with thousands of starfish; a young man ordained a priest; a couple bringing home newborn twins; a child struggling with mental health; a spouse diagnosed with a terminal illness; an unrelenting job; a parish in need of renewal.
Or, in today’s Gospel, a world in need of faith.
Seeing the big picture makes us react in one of two ways: we have either the pessimistic, “nothing will get done,” attitude of the father… or, the childlike, one starfish at a time attitude of his daughter.
How often are we the pessimist, thinking, “This problem is too big to solve. We can’t make a difference. Nothing will get done”?
When we think that way, we’re right. Nothing will get done!
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In today’s Gospel, the disciples have a daunting task before them. Like a beach strewn with thousands of starfish, Jesus sends the disciples out to change the world.
“Behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves,” Jesus tells them. Surely, not everyone will welcome them. They will experience hurt and rejection.
But their faith enables them to hope that some will believe in their message. And so, off they go with childlike faith, tossing one starfish into the ocean at a time.
Slowly, the Church begins to grow. What started with the Twelve Apostles turned into seventy-two…and has since grown by one-million percent, or 1.3 billion Catholics!
Do you think the Apostles ever could’ve imagined that two-thousand years later we would be benefitting from their labors?
Or think of that wonderful disciple who visited our parish a few weeks ago. Sister Draru came and spoke about her mission in Uganda. The Gospel reached Uganda only 150 years ago.
That path was laid by knocking on one door, converting one heart, tossing one starfish back into the ocean at a time.
If missionaries took the attitude of that father, saying, “I can’t make that much of a difference,” then the Gospel never would’ve reached our shores… or theirs.
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So, what is this Gospel saying to us?
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No matter what challenges we face in life, we have to embrace a childlike faith that believes in the power of one.
It’s how we’ve built this parish. We’ve grown by one new parishioner, one returning parishioner, one volunteer, one ministry at a time.
Suddenly, we’re bursting with life!
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What seems daunting to me right now? What challenge am I facing, in my own life?
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It could be the raising of children; the restoration of a marriage; breaking an addiction; or going off to college for the first time.
At times, we can feel like we’re standing on a beach strewn with starfish.
But remember the power of one.
In the end, that beach was cleared. It started with one child. Then her father joined. Eventually, others took notice, joining the effort until every last creature was saved.
Indeed, all things are possible, but it starts with childlike faith that trusts in God and believes – as God does – in the power of one.
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Image credits: (1) QuotesGram (2) www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk (3) Hilton Head Island Packet
