15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

There are lots of amazing things that have been written by Catholic saints about this parable.  As with any of Jesus’ parables, we can never stop gleaning fruit from the parable of the good Samaritan.

 

But I would like to keep it simple today with a few questions.

First of all, I would like us to think about whether we love the poor and hurting around us and stop to see how we can help?

And of course some of them are hurting and poor because of sin.  But I heard a great reflection from Dr. Ray Guarendi a while back on Catholic radio, and he said something to the effect of “If we could see each person’s past, we would likely be much more empathetic towards them, and much more willing to help them.”  That is also why God tells us not to judge anyone.  Of course we are supposed to judge individual actions, but God tells us to never judge another human PERSON.  One of the reasons is that only God knows the entirety of a human person’s past.

 

We are all moved when we see or hear of a toddler being abused, but most of those toddlers do not get help, and become adults.  Some of them turn to drugs or alcohol or gangs to try to cope with the trauma. 

 

I also think it is important to recognize that by loving the poor we are literally willing their good, and so that does not always mean money, but it does always mean working for this particular person right in front of me, working for his or her good, and it is really hard to do that without speaking to them.  Often just speaking to a person is a reminder to them of their dignity and worth, especially with so many in our country today without family and without friends.

 

The questions are simple, but it is a lot harder, at least initially, to stop and talk to those who are hurting and poor, and who if we could see their past, we would likely be much more sympathetic to.  But like all things in our Catholic Faith, the more we do it, the easier it gets. 

 

And if we are waiting on God to tell us to help this person or that person, God has already told us what to do…we should love our neighbors as ourselves.  If you are waiting on a thunderous voice from the sky, it probably will not come.

 

Let us set about talking with and honoring and encountering those around us who are broken and hurting, and let us not pass by on the other side of the road.