WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR? A REFLECTION ON THE PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN

THE PARABLE OF THE HIGH PRIEST, THE LEVITE AND THE GOOD SAMARITAN: SUNDAY REFLECTION

By Herbert B. Rosana, Ph.D.

The gospel reading today in our lectionary was taken from the gospel according to Luke 10:25-37. Commonly this is referred to as the parable of the good samaritan. In the gospel reading a young man was asking Jesus how a person can obtain eternal life. Jesus answered by asking him what the Law of Moses requires and he answered correctly that one has to love God above all things and then the neighbor. One important point to consider in this reading is the emphasis on the connection between religious practice and practical deeds. How easy it is to be religious. How comforting it is to be religious. How easy it is to say that we are serving God because we are worshiping Him. How easy it is to say we are obedient to the law. But one requirement we have in order to be acceptable to God is that we are required to love our neighbor. The difference between the observance of religious obligation and the practical side of it is that the former is easy to comply with, but the latter is difficult because it requires us to move beyond our comfort zone, to empathize and to be in solidarity with our neighbor.

The second point in this reflection is the question of who is our NEIGHBOR. Human nature as it is, always follow that which is easy. Hence we choose our friends and associates from the rich, the well to do and from those who could help advanced our interests. Seldom do we see the marginalized and those in the fringes of society as our neighbor. But essentially the parable given by our Lord tells us that these very people whom we ignore and we see as unimportant are the ones truly important in God's sight. Let us remember the scripture which says that what is esteemed by men is an abomination with God (Luke 6:15).

Painting by Vincent Van Gogh

The third point in this reflection is that we should never judged people because of their status in life. God would want us to see the value and innate goodness in every human being. This is the main reason perhaps why our Lord use the Samaritan as the image of good neighborliness. But who are the Samaritan? It will be a long explanation but let me be brief. After the Assyrian invasion of the Land of Samaria, the Israelite were deported, hence we have the term "the lost ten tribes of Israel". Only Juda, Benjamin and Levi were the tribes who remained in the Kingdom of Judah. Since then the original ten tribes never returned, But the population that rehabilitated the land of Samaria were non-Israelites, they were gentiles who imitated the religion of the Israelites from Samaria, and have set up a rival temple in Samaria. Hence during the Hasmonean period and up the Roman era, the Jews living in Galilee and Judah despised the Samaritans as fake Jews, unclean and pagans. Samaria was sandwhich between Galilee and Judea. Jews coming from Galilee would even avoid passing on the west bank if only to avoid contact with the Samaritans. It is not surprising that Jesus used the image of the Samaritan to illustrate good neighborliness. Perhaps the Lord was trying to emphasize to us that everyone of us regardless of our origins and belief is a reflection of God's goodness and because of that we have the capacity to do good and be good to others. Good neighborliness is not choosy, it values every human person as it is. Every human being is worthy of redemption, this is the reason why our Lord was crucified and that today we use that symbol of crucifixion as the sign of God's redeeming love, a door of opening and a hope for a new life and finally resurrection in the Kingdom of God. May he leads us into that way. Thank you Lord for showing us the way. Amen.

WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR? A REFLECTION ON THE PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN

THE PARABLE OF THE HIGH PRIEST, THE LEVITE AND THE GOOD SAMARITAN: SUNDAY REFLECTION

By Herbert B. Rosana, Ph.D.

The gospel reading today in our lectionary was taken from the gospel according to Luke 10:25-37. Commonly this is referred to as the parable of the good samaritan. In the gospel reading a young man was asking Jesus how a person can obtain eternal life. Jesus answered by asking him what the Law of Moses requires and he answered correctly that one has to love God above all things and then the neighbor. One important point to consider in this reading is the emphasis on the connection between religious practice and practical deeds. How easy it is to be religious. How comforting it is to be religious. How easy it is to say that we are serving God because we are worshiping Him. How easy it is to say we are obedient to the law. But one requirement we have in order to be acceptable to God is that we are required to love our neighbor. The difference between the observance of religious obligation and the practical side of it is that the former is easy to comply with, but the latter is difficult because it requires us to move beyond our comfort zone, to empathize and to be in solidarity with our neighbor.
The second point in this reflection is the question of who is our NEIGHBOR. Human nature as it is, always follow that which is easy. Hence we choose our friends and associates from the rich, the well to do and from those who could help advanced our interests. Seldom do we see the marginalized and those in the fringes of society as our neighbor. But essentially the parable given by our Lord tells us that these very people whom we ignore and we see as unimportant are the ones truly important in God's sight. Let us remember the scripture which says that what is esteemed by men is an abomination with God (Luke 6:15).

Painting by Vincent Van Gogh

The third point in this reflection is that we should never judged people because of their status in life. God would want us to see the value and innate goodness in every human being. This is the main reason perhaps why our Lord use the Samaritan as the image of good neighborliness. But who are the Samaritan? It will be a long explanation but let me be brief. After the Assyrian invasion of the Land of Samaria, the Israelite were deported, hence we have the term "the lost ten tribes of Israel". Only Juda, Benjamin and Levi were the tribes who remained in the Kingdom of Judah. Since then the original ten tribes never returned, But the population that rehabilitated the land of Samaria were non-Israelites, they were gentiles who imitated the religion of the Israelites from Samaria, and have set up a rival temple in Samaria. Hence during the Hasmonean period and up the Roman era, the Jews living in Galilee and Judah despised the Samaritans as fake Jews, unclean and pagans. Samaria was sandwhich between Galilee and Judea. Jews coming from Galilee would even avoid passing on the west bank if only to avoid contact with the Samaritans. It is not surprising that Jesus used the image of the Samaritan to illustrate good neighborliness. Perhaps the Lord was trying to emphasize to us that everyone of us regardless of our origins and belief is a reflection of God's goodness and because of that we have the capacity to do good and be good to others. Good neighborliness is not choosy, it values every human person as it is. Every human being is worthy of redemption, this is the reason why our Lord was crucified and that today we use that symbol of crucifixion as the sign of God's redeeming love, a door of opening and a hope for a new life and finally resurrection in the Kingdom of God. May he leads us into that way. Thank you Lord for showing us the way. Amen.

The Alpha and the Omega

Christ Our Teacher

MY SUNDAY REFLECTION: "The One who sat on the throne said,

“Behold, I make all things new.” - From the Book of the Apocalypse 21:5a.

In the Bible Jesus is said to be the Alpha and the Omega. He said that he is the apha and the omega (the first and last of the Greek alphabet). Why did he say that he is the alpha and the omega? For want of a language to express eternity and an era without time, Our Lord use the alphabet to denote the cyclic and transcendent nature of eternity. We physical creatures count times by numbers, but eternity has no numbers, it has no past and no future, it is an ever present reality. Sometimes we need to gain a grasp of this truth even just for a little. In another scripture God said that a thousand years is just as one day with the Lord. That is another idiomatic expression to denote that reality and truth is transcendent. Understanding this truth will help us understand the values of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Why did Jesus say that it is blessed to suffer? Why did the Bible admonished us to be patient, to suffer and to sacrifice? Why did the saints willingly suffer martyrdom? Because they know that this physical life we have is not permanent. The goals that we set in life are not permanent. It is all fleeting. Like water held by the palms of the hand, they vanished in an instant. But He that trusts in the Lord realizes that the end of his or her life is to be in communion with the Lord. This is what the theologians call, the beatific vision. The unbelieving will never perceive this and would even doubt if such a promise or reality ever exists. But then Jesus said, no one can come to God our Father unless the Spirit of the Father draws us in. May God give us the grace to be drawn closer to Him and may we realize that the reality of Jesus Christ is the reality of God within us. Th promise of the Emmanuel. Amen.

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

PANTOCRATOR @ Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey

My reflection for the first Sunday of Advent

Take ye heed, watch and pray. For ye know not when the time is.  Even as a man who going into a far country, left his house; and gave authority to his servants over every work, and commanded the porter to watch.  Watch ye therefor, (for you know not when the lord of the house cometh: at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning,)  Lest coming on a sudden, he find you sleeping.  And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch. (Mark 13:33-37, Douay-Rheims Bible).

This Sunday marks the beginning of the Advent season in the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic church.  Year after year, through our liturgy and through the reading of the scriptures we begin our journey in waiting and we end our journey in the recognizing the Kingship of Jesus Christ, the one who is to come.  But it is paradoxical that the reading for this first Sunday is both a warning and admonition to watch because the coming of the Lord is near. 

In our celebration of the liturgy we anticipate the coming of Christ in three ways: (1) In the first sense, we relive the coming of Christ on earth two thousand years ago.  As we walk through this commemoration we renew and we refresh our memory so that from year to year we keep our faith and we keep our hope.  (2) In the second sense we are reminded that Christ will come again for the second time as He had promised, until the consummation of time.  But as to the exact date that the Lord is coming, no one knows.  (3) In the third sense, the end of all of us or death is also a form of encountering the Lord for as it was written in the Bible, that it is appointed for men to die once and after that the judgement will come.  But the central message for us is to watch and pray.

This being watchful can only be realized if we constantly cultivate our faith in Christ.  A lively faith will only be done if we cultivate such faith and renew it every day.  For indeed it is important that we realize the transcendental nature of this watching.  At the core of this is faith in Christ who made the promise and our faith in God who is our Father.

LORD GIVE US OUR DAILY BREAD

Reflecting on this Sunday’s gospel reading I was lead to the thought that life is indeed precarious.  This precariousness of life should lead us to cherish, respect and protect life, because once this physical life is taken away it cannot be restored.  Speaking the temporal point of view there is a validity to this thought, but as Christians we should not look upon this life as an end in itself, for we seek eternal life. 
Perhaps this is the reason why our Lord taught us to pray for our daily bread.  Not for weekly or monthly but for daily bread. The insecurities of life and its precariousness has the tendency to lead us to express this anxiety in various forms.  One of these forms is greed and the desire to preserve life at whatever means.


In our gospel reading Our Lord posed this challenge and proclaim His claim as the source of eternal life.  He make allusion to the Manna from heaven that fed the wandering Israelites in the desert of Sinai.  Jesus said that the manna fed the Israelites but eventually they died.  But here Jesus said that He is the bread of life, and He that eats his flesh and drinks his blood will not die and will have eternal life.  For the Jews it was a hard doctrine.  To them this was impossible.  St. Paul would later say that the crucifixion of Jesus was a stumbling block to the Jews and it was an absurdity for the Greeks.  This was indeed a stumbling block to the Jews for in their minds they say how a Messiah can end up being crucified, and to the Greeks how can a man who died be raised again to life?  But for the Christians these two difficulties encountered by unbelievers transcends human understanding.  For Christ will never be our Bread and Wine unless He is crucified, and he will never be able to raise us on the resurrection unless he precedes us.  This is why Jesus was said to be the first fruits among the dead.  For by His passion, death and resurrection he held everything in captive and heaven and earth were placed under his footstool and the last enemy to be defeated is death.  Death is the fruit of sin, and sin brought death into this world.  This is also the reason why we say that the Eucharist is the summit and pinnacle of our Christian life.  The Eucharist embodies and it is the application of that one living sacrifice made by Jesus on Calvary.  All the law of Moses and the ritual observances of the Jews were fulfilled by Jesus Christ and all the story of the scriptures point to Jesus as the one who fulfilled everything and tha ages of all ages will proclaim Him as the Eternal and Holy One.  Thus when we receive the Holy Communion we received the pledge of life from God Himself.  And as Jesus said; “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

The Trinitarian Doctrine is a Doctrine of New Beginnings

"For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting." - John 3:16 (Douay-Rheims version)
My reflection for Trinity Sunday:  The Sunday reading for today is Matthew 28:16-20.  It talks about the commissioning of the disciples to go and baptize in the Name of the Father, the Son and of the Holy Ghost.  It speaks to us about the nature of the One True God (as opposed to the multiplicity of gods in paganism).  We know that the nature of the Godhead is beyond our reach but somehow Christ revealed to us a profound knowledge of who God is.  The Trinity is a doctrine hard to explain but is apprehended only by faith.  It can be summed up in one concrete idea = that Love is the operating principle of the Godhead.  Just as God is love so we too must grow in love.  For this Sunday however I would like to dwell on God's love.  There is one very important verse, or in fact the most often quoted verse in the Bible -John 3:16.  I kind of like the idea brought out by Matthew Henry's concise concordance to the Bible, reading John 3:16 in context Henry said that the story of Nicodemus is a story of new beginnings.  It demonstrates to us the mercy that accompanies the love of God.  Nicodemus was fearful of the Jews that is why he approached Jesus at night to avoid the prying eyes of the fanatical Jews who hated the teachings of Christ.  Some people might think that it is cowardice to hide in the cover of the night.  Perhaps some people would condemn Nicodemus for cowardice.  But Jesus never condemn him in fact Jesus conversed with him and spoke to him tenderly, expounding to him the truths of God.  This is incident in the Bible explains to us the nature of love.  The love of God welcomes new beginnings and it always open to new beginnings.  I am sad that today many religious people out of zeal or fanaticism are quick to condemn and to judge.  I often encounter situations like this in church.  Often the one who pray the longest is the one who is harsh towards the misgivings of others.  There are many Nicodemuses today, the question is how do we deal with them.  Do we drive them away by our indifference or prejudice?  Or do we think of some positive ways to open up to them the love of God and discover the new beginning?  May this Sunday bring us to the realization and to the experience of God's animating love in the midst of confusion, hatred and wrongdoing. This is the year of Mercy, a jubilee. Amen. 

And He descended into Hell: Christ on Black Saturday preached the gospel unto the souls of the dead.