Homily: 15th Sunday in OT 2016 - "Go and do likewise"

Biblical scholars and preachers usually interpret today’s Gospel passage, the parable of the Good Samaritan in one of two ways.  The first is to read as Jesus’ answer to what mercy, compassion, and neighborliness looks like.  The scholar of the law asks Jesus, “who is my neighbor”, and Jesus says even the person that you would normally overlook, even the person that the rest of the world considers unclean, that’s your neighbor, and you need to pick him up when he has fallen, you need to see past your preconceived notions and stereotypes and prejudices, and you need to treat him with mercy and compassion and tenderness.

The second way of interpreting the Good Samaritan parable is to see in this parable an allegory for what God has done for each one of us in Christ Jesus.  God has raised us up when we fell upon robbers and have been “half dead” because of sin.  We’ve been raised up, tended, cared for, restored to life because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us.  No human power can do what God has done for us—restoring our souls to life through baptism, healing us through grace.

Before I was ordained a priest, a group of seminarians one Sunday afternoon after attending Mass in the morning, decided to visit one of these non-denominational Mega-Churches that had become somewhat popular, you know, to see what all the fuss was about.  In fact, a lot of former Catholics end up at these Mega-Churches for various reasons. 

So that morning, there were about 800 people gathered in what looked more like a concert hall than a church.  The service opened with about 20 minutes of Christian Rock, all with electric guitars, smoke machines, and laser lights. 

The pastor then took the stage and performed a dramatic retelling of this morning’s Gospel, the parable of the Good Samaritan.  And so he picked one person out of the congregation to be the victim, he picked a couple young kids to play the robbers and rough him up and leave him for dead, the priest, levite, Samaritan, and innkeeper. 

Afterwards, he gave a sermon, basically interpreting the parable in that second way, that we are the man who fell among robbers; because of our own free-will given over to sin, we were lying on the road, half-dead, where no human power could help us.  And then, out of His infinite love, God sent his son to die for us and redeem us, to raise us up to new life. 

Then the pastor asked the congregation to close their eyes, and asked, “Have you fallen amongst robbers, have you been struggling in sin, are there choices that you’ve made against God’s commandments, have you pridefully rejected God’s grace, have you been selfish with the time you’ve been given?”  And I’m thinking to myself, sure I have, I’ve struggled, I’ve fallen, I’ve been prideful, I’ve been selfish towards my neighbor, and so, I raised my hand.  All of a sudden, he says, “Oh, I see someone with their hand up”.  I open my eyes and look around and thought, “oh no, that’s me!”  My classmates said I looked like a deer in headlights.  So I quickly shoot my hand down, and try to hide in my seat.  But I start to think, how am I the only one in this church that is guilty of sin?    

And I’m thinking, you know, this is one of the big differences between the Catholic faith and a lot of these non-denominational groups.  They believe that once you accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you are saved, you’re living the life of grace.  Catholics however, realize that though we truly begin a new life at baptism and are truly washed clean of sin, we may still fall, and we may still sin.  We remain free after baptism free to reject grace, and that happens every time we sin—when we ignore the commandments.  Baptism is not a guarantee that we will reach heaven, it is merely the first step of the journey.  Holiness is not a once and for all acceptance of grace, we are tempted to reject grace daily, and we need to practice the works of mercy every day.  Thank God for the Sacrament of Confession, which restores us to grace when we’ve fallen. So when a so-called born again Christian asks you, “Have you been saved”, answer, “I have been saved, I am being saved, and I hope to be saved."

Pope Francis said recently, that the Church is a field hospital.  In war, a field hospital is set up, where soldiers can be brought in when they are wounded.  The Church exists to heal our wounds, the wounds of sin and selfishness. That confessional, in a sense, is more important than any doctor’s office. For a doctor can treat our physical ills, but only through the ministry of the priest, can our sins be healed.

The prayers of this Mass reinforce this point: in the opening prayer we prayed, “may all of us who follow Christ reject what is contrary to the name of Christ.”  We acknowledge that temptation will come, and that we need God to resist those temptations.  In the priest’s prayer over the gifts, I’ll pray, may this Eucharist “bring us ever greater holiness.” 

And here is where the two interpretations of this parable converge. For as we are treated with mercy by God—with “saving love”, Jesus sends us out to “Go and do likewise”.  Having been treated with saving love by God, we are to show that same saving love to our neighbor.

“Who is our neighbor”? Our neighbor is not just the person who lets us borrow a lawnmower when ours isn’t working.  Our neighbor, Jesus is teaches, includes every member of the human family. Of course those sitting in the pews around us this morning, but our neighbor is the Samaritan, those who look different, talk different, worship differently—whether in Pittsburgh or Zimbabwe.  Our neighbor are the desperate people around the world who are starving, those who are mourning the loss of a loved one, those who differ politically.

In this year of Mercy, Pope Francis challenges us to acknowledge the mercy we have received, and to seek to grow in holiness by performing the works of mercy for others. We are to be the Good Samaritan whose lifts our fallen brother up, tends his wounds, pays for his lodgings, and comes back to check on him.  This requires real sacrifice on our part, going out of our way, breaking out of our comfort zone to see that every man is indeed our neighbor and we are to treat him as we ourselves wish to be treated.

And as we continue with this celebration of the Eucharist in which Jesus’ body and blood are given to us by the merciful love of the Father, may the saving effects of the Eucharist grow within us, that we may bring God’s love generously to our neighbor for the glory of God and salvation of souls.