{"id":4002,"date":"2013-07-20T10:32:16","date_gmt":"2013-07-20T09:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=4002"},"modified":"2013-07-20T10:32:16","modified_gmt":"2013-07-20T09:32:16","slug":"15th-sunday-of-ordinary-time-14-07-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=4002","title":{"rendered":"15th Sunday of Ordinary Time (14.07.13)"},"content":{"rendered":"

15th Sunday of Ordinary Time (14.07.13)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Today, we hear again Christ\u2019s immortal parable about the Good Samaritan.<\/p>\n

Why did the priest and the Levite not stop to help this poor unfortunate?<\/p>\n

As John says in his Gospel:\u00a0 \u201cJews have no dealings with Samaritans\u201d, so the Samaritans were despised by the Jews. \u00a0The racial difference made for religious difference.\u00a0 Each group\u2019s loyalty to its own tradition served to nourish its hostility towards the other group.
\nA neighbour then was someone within the boundaries of your own racial and religious circle. To love outsiders, while rejecting their beliefs, was not even a consideration in that tradition.<\/p>\n

Therefore, how stunning to discover that the hero of the hour, who came to the aid of the wounded man by the roadside, who happened to be a Jew, \u00a0was no less than a despised Samaritan \u2013 one who is publicly cursed in synagogues;\u00a0 one whose evidence is not acceptable in a court of law;\u00a0 a complete nobody!\u00a0 Yet, he is the one Jesus holds up as the \u201cneighbour\u201d in the kingdom of God.\u00a0 Yes, he is the one who went beyond the limits of religion to extend the boundary of compassion, and to a so-called enemy too!<\/p>\n

Through this parable, Jesus teaches us that should tradition invite us to despise other people for whatever reason, then we must be disloyal to that tradition.\u00a0\u00a0 If loving our neighbour means being disloyal to our tradition, then disloyalty itself becomes a virtue.\u00a0 The ultimate loyalty is LOVE.\u00a0 If the Gospel does not liberate, then Christ died in vain.\u00a0 He died so that everyone could have life in His Name.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the priest and Levite were afraid of the possible consequences for themselves, thinking \u201cwhat will happen to me if I stop!\u201d, whereas the question in the Samaritan\u2019s mind was: \u201cwhat will happen to this wounded man if I don\u2019t stop!\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting involved is a messy business\u00a0\u00a0 It disrupts your life.\u00a0 You never know the amount of trouble you are letting yourself in for, if you decide to answer a cry for help.\u00a0\u00a0 It is much safer, and far easier to close your heart and go quietly by on the other side of the road.
\nHow often we define a good neighbour as \u201cone who always minds his own business\u201d!<\/p>\n

This parable is relevant for each of us today.\u00a0 How many people lie wounded by the roadside of life!\u00a0 Their wounds are not always visible.\u00a0 People \u2013 even in our own neighbourhood, street, or household – can be wounded in spirit, depressed, redundant, lonely, forgotten, despised, ostracised; and as little as a kind word or gesture or a listening ear could lift them up. Are we too busy or preoccupied to notice, or maybe we feel sorry for them but think; \u201c it\u2019s not my business\u201d?<\/p>\n

As the old proverb says: \u201ca drop of help is worth an ocean of pity.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

15th Sunday of Ordinary Time (14.07.13) Today, we hear again Christ\u2019s immortal parable about the Good Samaritan. Why did the priest and the Levite not stop to help this poor unfortunate? As John says in his Gospel:\u00a0 \u201cJews have no … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archdiocese-of-liverpool"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4002"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4003,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4002\/revisions\/4003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}