Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C

A Levite, a lawyer, and a loving Neighbour

This Sunday we hear one of the most familiar stories in Luke's Gospel - the parable of the Good Samaritan. It is a story that most of us can recite by heart, but how many of us remember the interaction that prompts Jesus to tell this parable.

'There was a lawyer who, to disconcert Jesus, stood up and said to him, Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?'

Jesus responds first by asking him what the Torah says. The answer of course is to love the Lord your God with all that you are, AND to love your neighbour.

Somewhat embarrassed by how easily Jesus has turned the question back to him, the lawyer tries to justify himself in front of the crowd with a more pointed question - then who is my neighour?

This is the question that the parable focuses on. Who is my neighbour? But the implied question from the lawyer who was looking to catch Jesus out in front of the crowd is really, Who is not my neighbour?

What are the limits of love? Who can I continue to ignore, to look down on, to regard as my enemy? When can I afford to just focus on me and mine, and still be ok with God?

Jesus challenges this way of thinking by contrasting the response of the Temple Priest and the Levite, with that of the Samaritan and the publican, and asking the lawyer - who do you think is the good neighbour now?

The parable teaches us that when we can look into the face of those whose values, life choices, and worldview are different from ours, and still see the face of God who created and loves them, then we will see that everyone is our neighbour.

In the whole of this story (Jesus' interaction with the lawyer and the parable) I'd like to think I am less like the fictional Temple Priest and Levite, and more like the Samaritan. But I can also recognise myself in the lawyer; in those times that I favour pragmatism over compassion.

I pray that as we reflect on the lessons of this story and our own moments of goodness and weakness, we will inspire and be inspired by the good neighour in one another.

Comments

Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

Early in the final year of my teacher training at Mount Saint Mary's I fell in love. Within months I had decided that this girl was the one. By the end of that year I was off to the country as a beginning teacher, leaving her behind in Sydney to complete her own studies. For the next three years I lived alone in small flat next to the local footy oval. I involved myself in sport, community service and work, and kept myself very busy. I enjoyed it all, but without her, it was never home. In the latter part of my third year, I was applying for four or five jobs a week, longing to get back to her. After what must have been twenty-five or thirty applications a principal asked me straight out in an interview why I was so determined to come back to the city. I told him the truth, and within fifteen minutes of the interview, he offered me the job. I called my mum, and then I called Shayne. My experience of long-distance love (and telephone bills) is why the opening line of th...

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C

In this Sunday's Gospel we hear the story of Mary and Martha. It is Martha, we are told, that welcomes Jesus into her house, and immediately she sets about doing exactly what is culturally expected of her. She begins to serve the Lord. We aren't given the details but we can imagine that she is preparing food, drink and welcome for Jesus. And that she would have come to wash his feet. Yet when she does, she finds that her sister Mary is there 'sat at the Lord's feet and listening to Him.' The Gospel tells us that Martha is frustrated - upset that she is doing all the work while her sister assumes the posture of a disciple. And it tells us that she directs her frustration at Jesus, not Mary. "Don't you care..." As we have come to expect, Jesus' answer challenges Martha's righteousness. Mary, she is told, has chosen the better part, and it is not to be taken from her. The story ends abruptly, and we don't get to hear what Martha'...

Pentecost - Year C

This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. The entrance antiphon proclaims that 'The love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Spirit of God dwelling within us.' The immediate and vivid memory this prompts in me is primary school, felt banners, guitars and children's voices belting out... ♫ God is dwelling in my Heart. He and I are one. All His joy He gives to me, through Christ His son. And with Jesus in my heart, what have I to fear. For He is the Son if God. In my Heart he is near. To this day it's a loud sense-memory, and a happy one. In the first reading this Sunday we also hear a loud sense-memory from the apostles. 'Suddenly, they heard what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven, the noise of which filled the entire house.' The Gospel tells us that they were all gathered in one place 'for fear of the Jews.' It's not clear whether there is any particular threat that they are hiding from, or whether the...

Scripture Reflections Seeking Understanding

Search This Blog