Message of the Day
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Are you weak? Weary? Confused? Troubled? Pressured? How is
your relationship with God? Is it held in its place of priority? I believe the greater the pressure, the greater your need for time alone with Him.
- Kay Arthur
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Readings of the Day
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GAL 1:6-12; PS 111:1-2, 7-10; LK 10:25-37
R. The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.
I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart
in the company and assembly of the just.
Great are the works of the LORD,
exquisite in all their delights.
The works of his hands are faithful and just;
sure are all his precepts,
Reliable forever and ever,
wrought in truth and equity.
He has sent deliverance to his people;
he has ratified his covenant forever;
holy and awesome is his name.
His praise endures
forever.
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Gospel
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" 'Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the man who fell in with the robbers?' The answer came, 'The one who treated him with mercy.' " -Luke 10:36-37, our transl.
A lawyer of the Mosaic law questioned Jesus:
"Teacher, what must I do to inherit everlasting life?" (Lk 10:25) Jesus referred the lawyer to the law (Lk 10:26). Then the lawyer asked Jesus for an interpretation of the law concerning the meaning of the word "neighbor" (Lk 10:29).
Jesus did not interpret the law by citing other laws, as would have been customary. Rather, He interpreted the law by telling a parable. The priest and the Levite in
the parable were faced with an interpretation of the law. The law stated that no priest "shall make himself unclean for any dead person among his people" (Lv 21:1). This would probably also apply to the Levites because they served in the Temple. Since the person attacked by robbers in the parable was "half-dead" (Lk 10:30), may have looked dead, or may have been close to death, the priest and the Levite had to decide if the law of having mercy on the afflicted (see Lv 19:16) took precedence
over the law of ritual cleanness. They decided that ritual cleanness took precedence. Jesus said they were wrong. As much as God desires sacrifice and the ritual cleanness that must accompany sacrifice, He desires mercy even more (Mt 12:7) - mercy for all people. This means everyone is our neighbor.
We deal with the same issue today as we struggle to put mercy ahead of judgment (Jas 2:13),
especially concerning capital punishment and war. If we don't have mercy toward everyone, even enemies such as the Samaritans, then is everyone our neighbor? "Blessed are the merciful" (Mt 5:7, our transl.).
PRAYER: Father, may I make no exceptions to the commandment: "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Mt 22:39).
PROMISE: "If I were trying to win man's approval, I would surely not be serving Christ!" -Gal 1:10
mycatholic.com
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Spiritual Reading
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Freedom from Codependency, by Philip St. Romain
Chapter 6: What is Christian Love?
- part 10 of 12
- The Nature of Christian Love -
God hates sin. God, who is love, created
human beings to know and share in that love by helping to shape the creation. Therefore, we, created in God's image and likeness, are also love. When we sin, we act against our true nature. We distort what God has created, and we spread our evil and distortion to others by mistreating them. The consequences of our non-love have even spread to creation, threatening the very basis of life on our planet. What we have done with the gift of life God has given us is
equivalent to hoodlums throwing mud on the masterpiece of a painter. It destroys the masterpiece and insults the painter. We are magnificent beings acting like spoiled children, and this is an injustice toward God and one another. God still loves each of us but nonetheless hates all this non-loving selfish behavior.
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