SCRIPTURE FOR EVERYDAY LIFE
                         15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

FIRST READING: DT. 30:10-14
        The history of the Israelite people is an interesting story.  In the beginning of their life in the Promised Land, which God had given them, they served God faithfully.  For three hundred years they were loyal to Yahweh.  However, when under the leadership of King David and, later, King Soloman, they acquired strong
political and economic standing among nations.  They gradually began to lose their interest in God.
        Soon after the death of King Soloman, the kingdom was split.  They were no longer the political powerhouse that they had once been.  The Northern Kingdom was wiped out.  The Southern Kingdom was overcome by the Babylonian Empire; the city of
Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple were destroyed.  The people who had ignored God were now taken prisoners to Babylon, where they remained for over fifty years.  During their years as slaves in exile to the Babylonians, they realized how they had separated themselves from their Divine God.  They asked forgiveness and turned back to God.
        It was at this time that this section of the Book of Deuteronomy was composed.  The lesson the author wanted to impart was: Israel’s disobedience and turning away from
God brought on this deserved punishment.  Therefore, the only hope or rescue would be for the people to return to God with all their heart and soul- obey God’s law.  How well you obeyed God’s law was the gauge of your love and fidelity to the Lord. Knowledge of the law was second-nature to the Israelites.  “It is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts (v. 14).”  The law of God is a principal of life, not controlling but inspiring and motivating, the author of this writing relates to the people.  We hear in today’s reading that repentance is not only possible for the Israelites, but is what God desires most.
        We are also called to lay down our self-centered ways and to focus on the love of God and neighbor.  Our main focus should not be that of seeking power and recognition, but in striving to help our neighbor in need.  In serving others, we serve our God.

SECOND READING: COL.1:15-20
        The second reading today contains some of the most powerful theological statements about Christ in the New Testament.  Jesus’ role in both creation and salvation is
expressed in this passage.  Christ is praised as the image of the invisible God.  Paul uses several striking terms to characterize Christ: Image of God, Firstborn from the dead, The beginning, Head of the Church.  Today’s passage calls out the divine character of Christ rather than his human nature.
        Christ preoccupies the place of pre-eminence over all the rest of creation.  Paul emphasizes that Christ, as Lord of all, has power over all aspects of the created world, both heaven & earth, visible & invisible, thrones & dominions, principalities & powers (v.16).  Everything in creation is subject to him.
        Paul calls out to his readers to expand their understanding of Chrst, that not only was he visible during his ministry on earth- healing the sick, expelling demons, showing compassion to the outcast- but that he is also the Divine Christ who is Lord of all eternity, both now and forever.  Paul wants to emphasize that with Christ at our side, which he promises to those who believe in him, we are one with God the Father.  Since God the Father and Christ are one, along  with the Holy Spirit, they all dwell within us who believe.  Therefore, there is nothing or no-one that we should fear.  God is with us.  May the God of all consideration fill us with an abiding peace and a deeper trust in him.

GOSPEL: LUKE 10:25-37
        In the Gospel, Jesus is “tested” by a Jewish lawyer.  The scribes at the time of Jesus were men who had made a life-long study of the Law of Moses.  For that reason, they were also called lawyers.  Scribes, along with the Pharisees, were very much opposed to Jesus and his message.  They were constantly putting questions to him in hopes that his answers might turn the Jews against him or get him in trouble with the Roman authorities.
        The lawyer asked Jesus a question that, at first glance, might sound simple.  “What must I do to receive eternal life (v. 25)?”  Jesus, as he often did, answered him with a question of his own.  “What is written in law? How do you read it? (v. 26)?”  The lawyer responds with the great commandment of loving God with all of one’s being and loving our neighbor as yourself.  To the scribe, a neighbor would be a fellow Jew.  But he asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”- hoping to trap him with a response that would agitate the listening audience.  Jesus responds by telling the
story of a man who was robbed, beaten, and left for dead on the roadway.  Jesus tells this story to demonstrate what it truly means to love one’s neighbor.
        The Priest and Levite in this story are Temple personnel.  If they touched this wounded man in order to help him and discovered he was dead, they would have been rendered unclean, or defiled.  They were faced with the dilemma of helping a fellow human being or protecting their purity so that they could go to Temple and fulfill their ritual obligation.  They chose to protect their purity.  The Samaritan, on the other hand, was moved by compassion and responded out of love.  He went out of his way to help the stranger.  Jesus then asked the lawyer which one
of the three was neighbor to the victim.  He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy (v. 37).” 
        The same question is being asked of us on a daily basis.  Who is my neighbor?  We need not look far to see the “wounded” beside us- the homeless, the elderly, the lonely, or perhaps members of our immediate family who could use some words of
encouragement.  May God grant us the grace to respond to those in need; the time may come when we may need the assistance and kindness of strangers to assist us in our time of need.  It is in how we respond to others that we demonstrate our love for God.

-Sunday, July 11, 2010