Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In today’s gospel there are two trick questions. In fact, the gospel says a scholar of the law wanted to test him. He said, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” It is a strange question because what does a person do to inherit something? He has to be a son or daughter and someone has to die, doesn’t he? So, you do not have to do anything! What can a son do? He does not need to make an effort; there is no obligation he has to fulfill. If he is the heir, the law says he is entitled to the inheritance when the father dies.
He asks the second question in order to justify himself. He wants to make sure that he is not just good, but very good, because we all want to justify ourselves. I know that I cannot love, so who do I have to love or who is my neighbor? These questions can help us. Who do I have to ask for eternal life and who is my neighbor? To the second question the Lord responds in an impressive way. He gives us the parable of the good Samaritan, which we already know well. Whenever Jesus gives us a parable, he is talking about himself, which is very helpful to know so we can understand it correctly.
He starts out by saying a man was going from Jerusalem down to Jericho. Jerusalem means heaven or the Church or the community. So, he is saying this man has left the Church and is going to a place of foreigners. And he is beat up by bandits who leave him half-dead. This word, half-dead, is very important for the parable because the law says that touching a dead man is forbidden. Jesus heals the child of a widow by touching the impure coffin. Jesus always makes impressive gestures like when he touched an impure leper. The priest and the Levite are not evil or bad men, but are following the law. They probably thought the man was dead, so they went to the opposite side of the street. They are men who want to live the law and that by following it, they will be saved.
The Samaritan has an advantage since he is a foreigner, he is not one of the chosen people, so he does not need to follow the law. He approaches the man and realizes that he is not dead. He does not need to fulfill the law and therefore he can love this man. Jesus is speaking to us about the grace of God and wants to help us to live Christianity not by following many laws but by loving. He says it at the end of the gospel, who is the neighbor of this half-dead man? The one who shows him mercy. He is a Christian. A Christian is one who shows mercy, who loves the one in need.
It is important to remove so many laws, so many moralisms that have been invented and imposed on others. The only law is the one Jesus commanded: love one another as I have loved you. If you love, you don’t commit adultery; if you love, you don’t steal, you don’t lie. If you love, you are generous and kind. If you love, you don’t think you are better than the others. Love is the whole law. Christ has come to fulfill the whole law, to make it complete, to fulfill it through loving. Christ is the good Samaritan; he breaks the law by touching you. He goes to you when you are half-dead inside and no one else can get close to you, no one, only Jesus Christ.
It is wonderful because he says he picks him up, carries him, puts him on his own horse. What is the burden that you carry today? It is your cross. God gives you a cross from the moment of your birth and everyone in this world has one. That cross you hopefully carry has taken you to an inn, which is the Church. The Lord has brought you half-dead to the Church where the innkeeper or the catechist or the parish priest has done something marvelous. He has paid for you. The gospel says he paid two denarii. What a coincidence he paid with two things: his body and his blood, offered to the eternal Father. As is sung in the Exultet at the Easter vigil: Christ paid for us to the eternal Father Adam’s debt and with his blood he wiped away the condemnation of the ancient fault. He paid with his body and his blood, these two denarii which we can eat in a few minutes.
He tells the innkeeper if you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back. The Lord is already counting on your weakness and knows that you are going to spend more than you have. He knows you are weak and will fall and when you run away from Jerusalem the devil will catch you and beat you half to death. The Lord will come and takes us back to the inn and pays for us and on his return, he will repay the full amount. This is a wonderful word when we see it with the eyes of Jesus Christ. He is speaking about himself. He is the good Samaritan then and now.
Let’s us answer the two questions. What do I have to do to inherit eternal life? Nothing, because to fulfill the Shema: you shall love the Lord with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength and your neighbor as yourself; you cannot do it. Only Christ can do it. He can do it just like that, in a second. You and I cannot add anything.
Christ lifts you up. This word shows us the gratuitousness of the action of grace. Thank you, Lord, what a wonderful word you give us today. You can relax, brothers and sisters. Let yourself be carried away by love. And how do you answer the question about who is my neighbor? You and I are Christ’s neighbor. We have been his neighbors all along and he has mercy on us. Who is the neighbor? The one who acted with mercy. Who has been merciful to your spouse, no one. Who has been merciful to your kids, no one. Who has been merciful to your parents, on one. Only Christ has been merciful to all of us.
This is why a Christian can love if he has Christ inside and Jesus says in the gospel to all of us, “Go and do likewise.” When I am loved first, when I am taken to the inn, when I am carried by the other, then I will do the same. When you experience the love and mercy of God in the midst of your sins, when no one else loves you, then you an have this experience of this love of God through Jesus Christ. He is present here, in the word, in the preaching, on the altar and he tells you not to worry. He will pick you up even if you are dead because he is the only one who loves you as you are. This is why you don’t run away from the inn. Stay there with this innkeeper, with these two denarii. Take heart that the Lord loves you and will always love you.