Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?
Introduction
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 that involvement and commitment demand. 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.”
Opening 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.
Reading 1: Jon 1:1–2:1-2, 11
“Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it;
their wickedness has come up before me.”
But Jonah made ready to flee to Tarshish away from the LORD.
He went down to Joppa, found a ship going to Tarshish,
paid the fare, and went aboard to journey with them to Tarshish,
away from the LORD.
The LORD, however, hurled a violent wind upon the sea,
and in the furious tempest that arose
the ship was on the point of breaking up.
Then the mariners became frightened and each one cried to his god.
To lighten the ship for themselves, they threw its cargo into the sea.
Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship,
and lay there fast asleep.
The captain came to him and said, “What are you doing asleep?
Rise up, call upon your God!
Perhaps God will be mindful of us so that we may not perish.”
Then they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots
to find out on whose account we have met with this misfortune.”
So they cast lots, and thus singled out Jonah.
“Tell us,” they said, “what is your business?
Where do you come from?
What is your country, and to what people do you belong?”
Jonah answered them, “I am a Hebrew,
I worship the LORD, the God of heaven,
who made the sea and the dry land.”
Now the men were seized with great fear and said to him,
“How could you do such a thing!–
They knew that he was fleeing from the LORD,
because he had told them.–
They asked, “What shall we do with you,
that the sea may quiet down for us?”
For the sea was growing more and more turbulent.
Jonah said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,
that it may quiet down for you;
since I know it is because of me
that this violent storm has come upon you.”
Still the men rowed hard to regain the land, but they could not,
for the sea grew ever more turbulent.
Then they cried to the LORD: “We beseech you, O LORD,
let us not perish for taking this man’s life;
do not charge us with shedding innocent blood,
for you, LORD, have done as you saw fit.”
Then they took Jonah and threw him into the sea,
and the sea’s raging abated.
Struck with great fear of the LORD,
the men offered sacrifice and made vows to him.
But the LORD sent a large fish, that swallowed Jonah;
and Jonah remained in the belly of the fish
three days and three nights.
From the belly of the fish Jonah prayed
to the LORD, his God.
Then the LORD commanded the fish to spew Jonah upon the shore.
Responsorial Psalm: Jonah 2:3, 4, 5, 8
Out of my distress I called to the LORD,
and he answered me;
From the midst of the nether world I cried for help,
and you heard my voice.
R. You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the sea,
and the flood enveloped me;
All your breakers and your billows
passed over me.
R. You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
Then I said, “I am banished from your sight!
yet would I again look upon your holy temple.”
R. You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the LORD;
My prayer reached you
in your holy temple.
R. You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
Alleluia: Jn 13:34
I give you a new commandment:
love one another as I have loved you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Lk 10:25-37
“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.”
Intercessions
– For all ministers of the Church, that they may faithfully proclaim God’s Word and God’s Law, and at the same time, walk in God’s ways of compassion and love without measure, we pray:
– For all those who lie wounded by the road of life, that they may find good Samaritans who assist them to restore their faith in life and their trust in people, we pray:
– For all those who have been good neighbors to us, that the Lord may reward them, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
in these signs of bread and wine,
your Son Jesus, tells us the story
of how he has given his life for us.
Give him to us now,
that he may share with us
his strength to do as he did,
to give his and our life for all,
that we may live with him in your love,
now and for ever.
Prayer after Communion
Our God and Father,
we give you thanks for Jesus,
your Son in our midst.
Like him, may we tell with our lives
the old story, ever new,
of how you want to care through us
for every person in need.
God, live in us,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Blessing
We have heard how Jesus wants to make us all good Samaritans, people who have time and attention, compassion and love, for everyone in need. Our neighbor is any person who needs us. May the loving and Almighty God bless you all, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Jonah and the Samaritan: Do you leave or do you stay?
I think Jonah is a very “endearing” prophet. Upon realizing that the Lord is looking for him, he flees away from the Lord as far away as possible… a kind of “leave me alone” of biblical proportions; a simple and clear request for God almighty not to mess him up. As I read this, I was reminded of some personal experiences we have when the Lord calls us… we do not want our lives to be shaken by the plans of God.
Still, God is more stubborn than any of us when it comes to our well-being and salvation. We feel attracted by God, as Augustine would say “You created us and our heart won’t rest until it finds you” …but we do not like “God’s ways”. Following the Lord should be easier, like sailing in a calm sea with a light breeze. Why are there storms? Or why is there such a dead calm?
Let’s see today’s gospel from this perspective. The answer to eternal life is to love God and love your neighbor. Go and do that… no more questions. So easy. The man, however, “willing to justify himself, asked Jesus: And who is my neighbor?” The quick answer: anyone other than you.
Jesus’ response went deeper: anyone but especially those in need; if you find someone suffering like this in your life, put aside your life, your work, and your beliefs and attend to his needs until the person recovers. In the eyes of the Lord, the Samaritan, despised by the Israelites, becomes the righteous one for doing what is right, regardless of what others believe. He discovered his neighbor in an unexpected place and situation and acted upon it.
Samaritans also taught us something very important for Christians: we cannot solve problems alone, even less possess eternal life. We need others, and as St. Anthony Claret said to his friends, the secret is in “doing with others”; the Samaritan man involved others in the task, and gave them an opportunity to possess eternal life.
Do I go out of my way to discover the neighbors around me? Am I eager to involve others in the mission work?
Jonah and the Samaritan: Do you leave or do you stay? – Youtube