October 8th, 2018

Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
461

FIRST READING
GAL 1:6-12

Brothers and sisters:
I am amazed that you are so quickly forsaking
the one who called you by the grace of Christ
for a different gospel (not that there is another).
But there are some who are disturbing you
and wish to pervert the Gospel of Christ.
But even if we or an angel from heaven
should preach to you a gospel
other than the one that we preached to you,
let that one be accursed!
As we have said before, and now I say again,
if anyone preaches to you a gospel
other than the one that you received,
let that one be accursed!

Am I now currying favor with human beings or God?
Or am I seeking to please people?
If I were still trying to please people,
I would not be a slave of Christ.

Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters,
that the Gospel preached by me is not of human origin.
For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it,
but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

PSALM
PS 111:1B-2, 7-8, 9 AND 10C

Response: The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.

I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart
in the company and assembly of the just.
Great are the works of the LORD,
exquisite in all their delights.

The works of his hands are faithful and just;
sure are all his precepts,
Reliable forever and ever,
wrought in truth and equity.

He has sent deliverance to his people;
he has ratified his covenant forever;
holy and awesome is his name.
His praise endures forever.

GOSPEL
LK 10:25-37

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said,
“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law?
How do you read it?”
He said in reply,
“You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself.”
He replied to him, “You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live.”

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus,
“And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus replied,
“A man fell victim to robbers
as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down that road,
but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise a Levite came to the place,
and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal,
took him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,
‘Take care of him.
If you spend more than what I have given you,
I shall repay you on my way back.’
Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?”
He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.”
Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Daily Reflection

8th October 2018

The Gospel story of ‘The Good Samaritan’ has become a universal example to express going above and beyond, to lend a helping hand no matter the circumstances or who the person may be.

So what particular message does the story hold for us?

First, one would need to understand why Jesus uses the example of a ‘Samaritan’. Samaritans were despised by the Jews for being a mixed race: half Jewish and half Gentile, because of intermarriage with their Assyrian captors of the Northern Kingdom of Judea. They were also considered pagans because of their worship of idols. There was tremendous mutual distrust and dislike between the Jews and the Samaritans. Jesus mentions the Samaritan in this parable because, in the circumstances, he would be the least likely to help a Jew.

The priest allowed his position to override his sense of humanity. The Levite, an expert in God’s Law, sadly ignored the meaning and fulfilment of that law. But the Samaritan went out of his way, at his own risk and expense, to help this man.

The Gospel message, then, is a reminder that as disciples, we are called to fulfil God’s plan, not just in word but in concrete action.