Sunday Gospel Reflection, July 13, 2025: Take care of him!

Take care of him!
How important are the relationships in your life? 

    In the Book of Deuteronomy, shortly after reminding the people of Israel that God has always been faithful to God’s covenant with them, Moses offers the people a clear path to restoring relationship with the Lord. If only you would heed the voice of the Lord, your God, and keep his commandments, Moses says. And no excuses! The people know the law; the Shema is already in their mouths and in their hearts; they have only, Moses explains, to carry it out. All they need to do, in other words, is to decide that they want to live in relationship with God, turning back to the Lord, as Psalm 69 says, and connecting deeply with the God who brought them into existence. For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah, and fulfill all of his promises to those who remain in relationship with him. 

    The scholar of the law who asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life also knows the law; he can recite the Shema perfectly. But Jesus challenges him with the parable of the Good Samaritan, to be sure that his understanding of the injunction to love his neighbor as himself is complete. Luke’s Gospel makes it clear that, in Jesus’ time, contact with fluids from the body was believed to make one unclean, and so both the priest and the Levite pass by on the other side of the road, unwilling to touch the man who fell victim to robbers and was left half-dead. But God’s love and mercy, Jesus says, are meant to be shared with all, no matter their origin; our love of neighbor must likewise be for all, for every relationship is important! 

    We believe, as Paul tells the Colossians, that Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God; he is also head of the body, the church. As the firstborn of all creation, Jesus Christ is the manifestation of the very love and mercy he preaches to the scholar of the law. Jesus is also our access to the Father, the source of our connection to God. We are one in him; his death and rising have made this possible. And we, in turn, are called to be the manifestation of Christ in our world, bringing his mercy to all in every single relationship, cultivating and nourishing them with his love. 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com