FR. RON'S RAMBLINGS FOR
THE 15TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME
JULY 10, 2016

Our gospel reading today is the wonderful Parable of the
Good Samaritan. When the scholar of the Law of Moses asks
Jesus what must he do to inherit eternal life. Jesus response is
simple: Love you neighbor as yourself.

As with so many of the parables, Jesus gives a vivid example
of what He means by loving our neighbor. The poor man who
is beaten and bloody by the side of the road literally is crying
out for help from the passersby. Only the Samaritan stops and
saves the man from a dire fate.

When Jesus asks the question which of the three passersby
were neighbor to the victim, the answer is pretty obvious.!
!!Two things strike me about this parable. First, the man by the
side of the road is in obvious need. !Those we encounter in our
lives may not appear as needy or as bruised, but we know everyone
has brokenness and pain in their lives. A little kindness
and understanding not only go a long way, but it is precisely
what Jesus is trying to demonstrate to us in this gospel reading.

The second thing that is striking is that Jesus says this is what
we must do to inherit the kingdom of God. The scholar of the
law was expecting a much more complicated and complex answer,
but Jesus reiterates that we will be judged by the way we
treat one another.

In many other places in the gospels Jesus gives us the same
message. So as we go about our days let us be cognizant of the
fact that everyone of us needs to be cared for and “whatever we
do to the least of our brothers and sisters, we do to Christ”