REFLECTION:
The lawyer puts an important question to Jesus, but it is insincere because he is really posing the question “to test” him. Jesus takes his question at face value and gives a right and all-embracing answer about how we “inherit eternal life.” We must make love of God and neighbor the guiding focus of our lives here and now. The Good Samaritan parable illustrates this kind of love. Our challenge: to go this far in our loving.
- What I find challenging about Jesus’ reply to “who is my neighbor?” is . . .
- What is comforting to me is . . .
- In loving God I have gone this far . . . In loving my neighbor I have gone this far . . .
- In light of this parable, I [my parish] must “go and do” . . .
Connecting the Gospel
to the first reading: God’s law “is not too mysterious and remote” for us – it is “already in [our] mouths and in [our] hearts.” In the gospel the lawyer proves the truth of these words of Moses when he readily quotes the law. Jesus, echoing Moses, urges the lawyer to do what he already knows: “carry it out.”
to our experience: In our legal culture we are very aware that law cannot legislate love or compassion. Yet loving God and others and acting compassionately are God’s law.
Reprinted with permission of Liturgical Press from: Living Liturgy