Homily 15th Sunday
Year C: Michael U. Udoekpo
Readings: Deut 30:10-14; Ps
69:14,17,30-34,36-37;or Ps 19:8-11; Col 1:15-20 and Luke 10:25-37.
God’s Limitless Love is Near Us (GLLNU)
On July 5th, 2013 the
Holy Father, Pope Francis released a new Encyclical Letter, Lumen Fidei- the Light of Faith. Part of
this 4 chapter Letter touches on today’s Bible lessons: that, Faith in God is expressed through Love.
In paragraph (n. 4), of Lumen Fidei, Pope Francis talks about faith as a light to be
discovered. He says, “Faith is born of an
encounter with the living God who calls us and reveals his love, a love which
precedes us and upon which we can lean for security and for building our lives.
Transformed by this love, we gain fresh vision, new eyes to see” what God
has done for us and what he will continue to do for us.
Imagine yourself being Abraham,
our father in faith, or Moses who led Israel through that long journey in
the wilderness. One of his challenges was to constantly let Israel know
that God is not only near them, but he constantly loves them from creation and
carries them through the ups and downs of life. All that God requires of Israel is
faith, trusting in God, acknowledging his omnipotence, omniscience, keeping his
precepts, including the 10 commandments, and reciprocating God’s love by
reaching out to their neighbors charitably.
For Moses (Deut 30:10-14), what
God has done for Israel/us
or who God is not so difficult to perceive. It is not too mysterious, or above us, or as if someone
had to ascend to heaven and bring it down to us. It is not far from us to see.
Think of the oxygen we breath, the mountain we climb, the oceans we fish from
and ride our boats and ships, the beaches we enjoy during the summer, the moon,
the sky, the stars, the gardens, trees, the nature- the gift of life, family
and properties; the technology God has bless our this century with, the gift of
one another, the roof over our heads, our jobs, the security we have, in spite
of threats of war and terrorism etc.
This is what Saint Paul means in the Second reading when he says, “all
things were created through him and for him, visible and invisible” (Col 1:15-20). Note the
language, “all things” not “few things” or “some things.” God’s love is
universal. It is not selective. It is not for the few, some, men, some women,
some children, but for all men, all women and all children. How do we respond
to God’s limitless love? This is a multimillion dollar question. Apart from Jesus' answer to the lawyer in today's Gospel, 1 John
4:19 also presents excellent and straightforward answer on how we are to respond to God's love.
In 1 John 4:19 we read, “We love because God first loved
us.” In other words, we are all called
to love limitlessly since God has first limitlessly loved us.
Our Lord Jesus Christ puts this
well in his parabolic response to the lawyer who went tempting him with the
question, “what must I do to inherit the Kingdom of Christ?
What must I do to inherit eternal life? (Luke 10:25-37). Both Jesus and the
lawyer were all Jewish. They were familiar with the Book of the Deuteronomy which
emphasis love of God and love of one’s neighbor (6:5). They were familiar with
what Moses reminded Israel
of in the first reading of today. But the difference between Jesus understanding of the
law and the attorney is on the interpretation of who is one’s neighbor or to
what limits is God’s love. Is God’s love, charity, fundamental human rights
measured by distance or geography, parish, diocese, county, local government,
state, and nation, continent, weather condition or race?
The answer is a big “No”. For
Christ what makes us neighbors is our generous response to people we meet on
the way no matter their hair style, accent, color or race and gender. The
Samaritan who responded to the need of this robbery victim was supposed to be a
Samaritan of the North, who has had a long standing disagreement with the Jews
in the South.
I am sure you would also recall Jesus' disciples' expression of shock when they saw their Master chat and exchange a cup of cold water with the Samaritan Woman in John chapter 4. These were Disciples of Christ!
I am sure you would also recall Jesus' disciples' expression of shock when they saw their Master chat and exchange a cup of cold water with the Samaritan Woman in John chapter 4. These were Disciples of Christ!
Any of us can fall a victim of
selective love, omission or negligence, or failure to share our blessings with
our neighbors, the poor, the aged and the needy. Some ministers can refuse to
bring communion to the dying or visit the sick or show compassion and mercy to
the afflicted. While others can simply remain insensitive to the needs of their flock. This is true in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Those who
walked pass the victim were those the society would have morally looked onto:
the Priests and the Levites. They were called to be shepherd, custodians of mercy and compassion (Jer 23; Ezek 34 and John 10).
I am sure you may have heard this story before. It has been told in different forms and styles of a high ranking clergy, on a journey. Quite high ranking and had a driver. He came across an accident scene on the way. Kind enough he pulled by and then noticed that the victims critically needed prayers and some last blessings. He looked around, reacted in a loud voice, "Is there no priest around here to give these dying victims at least some final blessings and anointing." Meanwhile, he completely and insensitively forgot that himself was a priest!
I am sure you may have heard this story before. It has been told in different forms and styles of a high ranking clergy, on a journey. Quite high ranking and had a driver. He came across an accident scene on the way. Kind enough he pulled by and then noticed that the victims critically needed prayers and some last blessings. He looked around, reacted in a loud voice, "Is there no priest around here to give these dying victims at least some final blessings and anointing." Meanwhile, he completely and insensitively forgot that himself was a priest!
As Pope Francis affirms, in Lumen Fidei, the Love
of God precedes us. It is limitless. It is universal. With faith we want to lean on it for
peace and security. It beams from faith. May this love gives us new vision, new light and fresh eyes of looking
at things and our fellow humans, so that we may go out there and be merciful and compassionate without
limit, to anyone, and to everyone we meet on our ways- homes, schools, and
churches, private and public places? How we love is an expression of the depth
of our Faith.
