15th Sunday in Ordinary Time – July, 10 2022
Theme: Love Compels Us To Act Upon His Word
First Reading: Deutoronomy 30:9-14
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 25:4-14
Second Reading: Colossians 1:13-20
Gospel Reading: Luke 10:25-37
Homily by Fr. Erel Villanueva
Today’s Gospel shows us that everyday is an opportunity to do mission anytime and anywhere. We do this by exercising our faith through applying the word in our daily lives with love.
The lawyer asked Jesus how to receive eternal life. Jesus direct him to what the Bible says – to love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind, and loving our neighbors as ourselves. This is the same question asked by the rich young ruler and Jesus answered to go and sell all his possession and follow Him. Jesus answered them to put their faith in action. It means that we should not only trust and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior but we should also live out our salvation. This is best expressed in our application of the principles of God in our daily and practical lives. If we really believe in Jesus, then our faith must have visible fruits.
These priests and scribes represent Christians who hear the word but did not do anything to help the wounded man; their faith had no equivalent action/works. They may have reasons, alibis, or excuses. Maybe to them, it would be costly to do so…but it is more costly not to. The true love of God will always lead us to find ways. The Samaritan, on the other hand, may be someone who rarely hears the word or goes to church, but he showed compassion and care for the wounded man. He even let somebody else take care of him at his expense. Like God the Father who saw His creation go down the tube to hell because of sin, He had compassion on us and sent His Son to die and save us, all in Christ’s expense.
The love of God compels us to do something about the problem, not just by sympathizing or feeling sorry for the distress of others but by doing something or contributing to the solution in the best way we can.
Along the road of our everyday journey, people who need help will come to us. They are our neighbors regardless who they are and what they need. God sent them to us as an object of our compassion and love. It is an opportunity to apply our faith and live out our salvation here on earth. Since we only pass this way once, why not be a Good Samaritan? Jesus showed us how, then let’s continue doing it likewise.
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