"Go and do likewise”

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the Gospel of St Luke the story of the Good Samaritan…..I am sure we are all familiar with that story…..In it two people who were considered “holy people” pass-by a man beaten who is half dead on the street….And the Samaritan, who was considered an outcast by the people of Israel comes to this man’s aide….”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”….There are many things we can all learn from this story….But for today, the take-away I would like to focus upon is….”Talk is cheap”…..We can say all day long we are “religious”….We can pray all day long….Fast aggressively two times a week……Read the Bible until we memorize it…..But if we do not see Christ in our neighbor and love our neighbor as ourself…Take all those things I just noted and throw them in the garbage!…..Before we jump to conclusions…..If we do the things I noted…..Pray daily….Fast weekly….Live a Sacramental life……Our vision will change and so will our heart by means of sanctifying grace…..And we will view others differently, even those who are “not so nice”…..Dr Ronda Chervin a convert from Judaism and a professor of philosophy put it this way……”It is in the lives of the saints that we can see how divine love inspires heroic love of neighbor in a concrete and visible form”…..When you get right down to it…..Our Catholic faith is so simple…..We open our soul up to grace and God transforms us….This transformation is tangibly manifested in how we give of ourself to others….The more we empty ourself…The more the Holy Spirit indwells in us…That is how it works!

“If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal”

Our Catholic faith must translate into action!….If it does not, it is empty and frankly good for nothing………If we are able to see Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, we will be able to see Jesus in our neighbor and if we see Jesus in our neighbor, we will respond to his / her need…..Jesus gave us two laws to follow…Love God above all things and love your neighbor as yourself…..So simple right?…..But before we can love our neighbor properly, we first have to love God….This is why our world is so “messed up” - We have forgotten God….Each of us are incomplete without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and there is NO WAY we will be able to even love our spouse or children as we should without loving God first - A shocking statement to make!........This is the mistake of most people in our world today….Selfless love, which is required to have a good marriage has human limits without the grace of God - A Stone Cold Fact!…..To love as we should requires grace….I can hear it now - “I don’t need God to love my family”…….If that is the case - Why do over 50% of marriages end in divorce?……Love gives - It never takes! - And for love to be real, it must hurt!…True love is not a 50% endeavor - Its a 100% endeavor!….And in order to love in that manner…In order to “pour out” our self for our family and our neighbor the way we were ALL called to by our shared Baptism, we need divine grace…..When this “kind of love” is witnessed by the world - We as Catholics will stop traffic!…..Truly selfless love witnessed by the world changes hearts in a way words can never do……But that requires supernatural grace, which is available to ALL of us….Our first reading in Mass today tells us, we all know what is required - This is not “rocket science”……"For this command that I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious and remote for you. It is not up in the sky, that you should say, Who will go up in the sky to get it for us and tell us of it, that we may carry it out? Nor is it across the sea, that you should say, Who will cross the sea to get it for us and tell us of it, that we may carry it out? No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out”…….St James tells us very bluntly….”Faith without works is dead”…..And to have a faith that is alive, we first must rely upon grace.

“And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing”

Today in the Gospel from Mass the story of the Good Samaritan rings true once again…Jesus ends his parable with this…."Go and do likewise”….But in order to "Go and do likewise” we need grace…Our vision must change but our heart must change first!….We need to be able to “see” with a different set of eyes…And only God can give us this “sight”…..We must give God permission to enter into our life…If we do…We will love our spouse and children in a supernatural way…We love our neighbor as ourself….And the world around us will be a better place because of it….”Nice words” - Right? - But here is the “catch”! - We can not give what we do not have…..Being a Catholic really is simple…..We do our part and God will do his…..Sacrificial love changes the world - “That kind of love” is supernatural - And “that kind of love” is available to us all…..As Jesus rightful said….."Go and do likewise”