October 8, 2018
WHAT TO DO
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this 27 Monday in Ordinary
Time is, “What To Do?”
I just had a homily at 10:30 of a young woman who died at
the age of 27.
The title of my homily for that Mass was, “What to Say?”
I spoke about sometimes we don’t know what to say -
especially when someone dies when they are quite young.
So I spoke about that. Sometimes showing up says a lot
more than saying something.
After that Mass I sat here and asked myself, “What To
Say” - coming out of today’s readings.
TODAY’S READINGS: WHAT TO PREACH
The first reading talks about preaching and following the
gospel handed down to us.
Today’s gospel is from Luke. It’s the story of the Good Samaritan.
One of the gifts of Luke is his ability to sum up the
whole gospel in just one story - especially a parable.
Today it’s the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
So the first answer to the “What to do” question is what
the scholar of the Law says to Jesus, “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.”
Jesus says, “Do this and you will live.”
Then Luke gives the
great message - of naming whom our neighbor is.
Jesus breaks all the boundaries that were part of Jewish
village life as well as Israel’s life. It was limited to Jews.
Jess says that neighbors are not just our family and our
tribe or class.
Neighbors are not just the person next door to us.
Our neighbor is any person on the planet who needs our help.
I don’t know about you, but I am moved every time I see
on TV - people from all over the world - who show up in Haiti or Indonesia -
when there is a hurricane or tsunami or earthquake. They are from Germany or Tokyo
or Chicago or Maryland.
Or they collected $18 million Euros or Dollars for people
needing help.
Who is my neighbor?
It’s the person who needs a dollar or a hamburger or a
Hello or any form of Help.
It’s the person hurting anywhere and everywhere - in our family, in our groups, in our world.
The gospel message is: Help them. Be there for them.
CONCLUSION
The title of my
homily was: What To Do.
What to do: love, give, stop, be with, hug, hold, care,
visit, share.
What would it be like to come up with a hat that says
today’s gospel in a short slogan? How
about, “Help the hurting today.” Or “Be
the Good Samaritan.”
