Love God By Loving Others

𝐎𝐂𝐓. 𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝟏 : 𝐉𝐨𝐧 𝟏:𝟏-𝟐:𝟐

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐉𝐨𝐧 𝟐:𝟑-𝟓, 𝟖 “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐭 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟏𝟎:𝟐𝟓-𝟑𝟕

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “…. 𝑮𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒆.” (𝑳𝒌 10:37) 

The Gospel today is something that is close to the heart of every Filipino especially those who were reared under the traditions of the olden days when the people in this part of the world were the epitome of kindness and generosity such that the land is often called the Pearl of the Orient.

         To be held in such precious esteem was probably due to the land being endowed with rich natural resources that has become the envy of the neighboring nations or, it may probably be on account of the unbridled hospitality of the Filipino people known the world over.

         But times have changed and the influence of the Western culture has created a new mindset among the populace and the once leisurely pace of life gave way to a radical change in the way of life and in the character of the people especially during these times when mundane concerns seem to have upstaged the good-natured spirit behind the “bayanihan” spirit for which Filipinos are known for.

         And this parable on the Good Samaritan comes as a timely reminder for all of us to reacquire the spirit of good neighborly relations that springs from our innate love for our God before this “bayanihan” spirit is forever lost to us.

         Here in today’s Gospel, Jesus once again emphasizes the means by which we can enjoy eternal life. Tested by an expert in the Torah or the Laws of Moses, Jesus was asked: “𝑻𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝑰 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒏𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆?” (𝑳𝒌 10:25)  Instead of answering, Jesus threw back the question by asking: “𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒘? 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒊𝒕?” (𝒗.26)       

  In this way, Jesus wanted the legal expert to find out for himself what the Scriptures and he obliged by quoting from 𝐃𝐞𝐮𝐭 𝟔:𝟓 and 𝐋𝐞𝐯 𝟏𝟗:𝟏𝟖 saying: “𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒏𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒃𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇.”        

And Jesus said: “𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚. 𝑫𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆.” (𝒗.28) What Jesus was emphasizing in this verse was not just the two greatest commandment that anyone desiring eternal life should know but in the doing. In other words, anyone who comes across these two verses can memorize it without any effort but it will not give us eternal life. It is only when we take this to heart and put it into action that eternal life becomes a reality.

         But the Jews have a different concept of who might a neighbor be limiting his definition to fellow Jews and Jesus once again tore down this argument by narrating a parable about how a Jew was beaten and robbed on the road to Jericho which was a dangerous place to be as it teemed with thieves and bandits.

         As the Jew lay wounded on the road, a priest and a Levite passed by one after the other but ignored the man as they went by the other side of the road. Then came a Samaritan who belongs to a tribe that was so hated by the Jews but he stopped and cared for the wounded Jew. The rest is history as they say.

         Here Jesus did not give an exact definition of who might our neighbor be but what he showed by way of this parable was that anyone who is in need regardless of race, color and creed is our neighbor. In this parable, Jesus shows that to love our neighbor can be costly as was in the case of the Samaritan who used his own logistics to help the wounded Jew. But this is precisely what love is for what good are our material possessions if we will not help a brother in need and still say that we love God? (𝟏 𝐉𝐧 𝟑:𝟏𝟕).        

When the legal expert himself said the one who showed mercy was the neighbor to the wounded Jew, Jesus told him and is now telling us to go and do what the Samaritan did for only in doing so can we find eternal life.

        In the face of life’s myriad of challenges today, we need to examine and ask ourselves if this parable is still relevant to our present time. How much of my person has been invaded by my selfishness, looking only after my own interests and, in believing “why should I help the poor who are poor because they chose to be poor.”

         We as disciples of Jesus must ask ourselves how much of the world has dimmed the gift of mercy that Jesus has planted in our hearts. We may be riding on the chariots of success in our careers and business, but which is my priority when put on the same spot as the Samaritan. Will we be like the priest and the Levite? Or will we choose to be a Samaritan?

         As a Christian and a disciple, we must take heed of the command of Jesus to “𝒈𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒆.” (𝒗.37) This means that we must prioritize acts of mercy (CCC 2447-2448) over our personal comfort and convenience. And it is only in doing that we can gain eternal life.

         The priest and the Levite definitely felt pity for the wounded Jew but they did nothing. For love to be real, it must be accompanied by action. What does this parable mean to you?

        And since the month of October is the month devoted to the Holy Rosary, one of the ways by which we can show our love for God is by our devotion to the Holy Rosary that we will celebrate tomorrow. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘖𝘤𝘵. 6, 2025)