* 15th Sunday Ordinary (C), July 11, 2010
* Theme: Who Is My Neighbor?

* “Who is my neighbor?”
* That is the question a scholar of the Mosaic Law asks Jesus in today’s gospel.
* It is meant as a test for Jesus.
* Jesus turns the question around and it becomes a test for the one asking the question.
* It also becomes a test for us.

* “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” the scholar asks.
* Of course he knew the answer from the religious teachings.
* He quotes from two biblical books (Deuteronomy 6: 5 and Leviticus 19:18), “You shall love the Lord your God with all you heart, with all your being, with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.”
* He knew the right answer, Jesus tells him.
* He was feeling pretty content and could say to himself,
* I live a good life.
* I don’t hurt anyone.
* It is what most of us in church today could say as well.
* Jesus says, “Fine, go do it.”

* Feeling quite satisfied with himself but a little uncomfortable with the simplicity of Jesus’ answer, the scholar asks, “And who is my neighbor?”
* Jesus responds with a parable.
* The parables always call us to rethink our assumptions.

* “Who is my neighbor?” is the question that hangs in the air.
* Note the wounded person was coming from Jerusalem so there is a strong hint that he was a Jew.
* The man who helped was a Samaritan.
* For the Jews, Samaritans were not known as people who do good, but as the hated enemies of the Jewish people.
* And the feelings were mutual.
* There were generations of animosity behind this story and those listening to Jesus would need no one to explain the implications of the parable.
* (Cf. Jude Siciliano, O. P.)
* For us it would be like saying the three persons mentioned in the parable would be:
* A Priest who paid no attention and walked by
* A Social Worker who could not be bothered,
* And the one who helped the victim was a member of al Qaeda.
* The hearers were shocked just as we would be shocked.
* For them this parable was not the charming story,
* Instead it was a shocker that threw the hearers back on themselves and questioned their presumptions – and ours.
* “Who is my neighbor?”

* What struck me as I reflected on the parable this week took a little twist.
* Given the news media – we are constantly bombarded by human disasters that occur around the world – death in wars, flooding, fires, oil spills, etc.
* A parishioner said to me – we are always praying for people in other countries who have suffered tragedies, how come we did not pray for the people of my country after the last disaster there?
* I did not even know about that particular event, but obviously the person was concerned for the people.
* We hear of the plight of people in the ghettos of India and Gaza, and we are confronted as well by those sleeping on the streets of our city.

* With so much tragedy in the wide world, with our own economic problems at home as people search for employment or fear losing their jobs or even their homes,
* Compassion Fatigue is something that we all confront.
* Everyone has problems
* We know that we cannot solve everyone’s problem
* So we want to retreat into our personal shells.
* Yet this world is our world and each human being is a child of God.
* As the world gets smaller and smaller due to easy travel and fast communication – we more than ever realize that we are all related and dependent on each other in one way or another.

* The Question that Jesus asks in today’s Gospel is not, “How is this person a neighbor to me, but rather how am I a neighbor to this person?”
* Perhaps the challenge of the Gospel is not to become hard-hearted to the plights of others – whether they are near or far.

* For Jesus, it is not about us – the helper – it is about the victim.
* When another has needs, Jesus teaches, we need to be neighbors.
* There are no reserve clauses.
* It’s not about whether people deserve our help or not.
* Whether they are grateful or not
* Whether they are “the deserving poor,” or not

* We build walls between us: in our homes, in our neighborhoods, and between nations.
* Jesus wants to dismantle them, stone by stone.
* The Eucharist we share today is the food that nourishes us to become neighbors to all.
* (cf. Jude Siciliano – Preacher’s Exchange)

* As we continue with our liturgy,
* Let us thank the Lord for God’s attentiveness to our needs
* Let us pray that we not become hard hearted to the needs of the people of our world.
* Let us pray that we may become good neighbors to all God’s people.

* Amen

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