From our Pastor’s Desk

Dear Family:

This Sunday’s Gospel talks about how to inherit eternal life. In my seven years of being a priest, I have never had anyone come up to ask me the question that the scholar of the law did in this Sunday’s Gospel. In fact, in my entire life as a Catholic, I have never met someone who asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Many Christians nowadays would rather talk about political and social issues rather than discussing eternal life and faith matters. That is why we have seen all sorts of political fights and endless bickering over various social issues. Perhaps the first spiritual lesson that this Sunday’s readings want to teach us is to focus on what matters the most for us in the long run. We should not waste our time and resources on worldly things like political and social issues. For, in the end, those issues will not matter at all. Rather, eternal life is what matters the most.

In the first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, we heard the written farewell discourse of Moses to the Israelites just before he dies and they cross over towards the Promised Land. In it, Moses reminds them to “heed the voice of the Lord” and to turn to the Lord with all their heart and all their soul. These words do not go unheard. Words like this are found in our gospel today when the question arises, “What must I do to inherit entire life?” The answer is “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.” I want to stress what I underlined: it says “all”.

In coming here today for Mass we show a desire to have God be part of our lives. Do we make Him part of “all” of our life or do we just give Him an hour on Sunday? Coming here for Sunday Mass is one of the most important things we can do in our lives. Coming here, we admit we need God in our lives. We need His grace. We need His strength. In coming here for Mass, we let God in. We begin Mass with the Sign of the Cross, knowing how important the Cross is to us. We admit we are weak and sinful as we pray the Penitential Rite. We receive direction from God in the readings and the homily. We receive strength from the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ. We receive much in coming here for Mass. What we receive at Mass opens up for us what God has already planted in our hearts: faith. So, as Moses said we “only need to carry it out.”

In the Gospel today, we learn that the scholar of the law came to Jesus wanting to figure out how to achieve eternal life. To my surprise, a scholar of the law was interested in that. Most scholars of the law would focus on something else except eternal life. He also recognized Jesus as having the authority and knowledge about it. He must have seen something special in Jesus that others did not. He probably heard lots of wonderful teachings from Jesus and saw Him perform all kinds of miracles for the people of God. That is why he sought Him out and wanted to know how he could enter the Kingdom of Heaven and enjoy eternal life. Jesus asked him about his knowledge of spiritual and moral teachings. The scholar of the law responded that he would have to love God with all his heart and mind and to love his neighbors as himself. Jesus praised him for giving Him the right answer saying, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you shall live.” So, if we want to inherit eternal life after the current one, we must do the same thing and learn to love God and our neighbors in this life. That might be easily said, but it is hard for us to practice every day. That is why eternal life is reserved only to the faithful ones who dared to live out God’s Commandments.

However, the story of the scholar of the law and his wish to inherit eternal life and enter Heaven did not end there. Evidently, he wanted to ask Jesus another question, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus certainly was glad to explain to the scholar of the law all about the idea of neighbor through the story of the Good Samaritan. Jewish society back then had a very limited definition of neighbor and only considered someone a neighbor if he or she was Jewish. Like American society in the beginning, Jewish society was segregated from other ethnic groups. That is why we have heard how Jesus and His disciples often avoided any contact with Samaritans. In fact, some of Jesus’s disciples were surprised to see Jesus talking with a Samaritan woman at the well on one hot afternoon. Anyway, the story of the Good Samaritan tells us that a poor Jewish fell victim to a terrible robbery. Tradition said that the road from Jerusalem to Jericho was like our “Wild, Wild, West” and was controlled by all kinds of gangs and robbers. The Jewish victim was beaten badly, stripped of everything, and left half-dead by the side of the road. A priest and a Levite went by the same road and chose to pass by the victim on the opposite side. Some scholars suggested that the reason for that was because the priest and the Levite were on their way to the Temple for worship and did not want to be contaminated with blood. That would keep them from qualifying for worship. Whatever the reason was, the most religious people of the Jewish society ignored the cry of a Jewish victim. Fortunately, a Samaritan stopped to help that victim and spent his own money to heal the stranger.

Jesus asked the scholar of the law and, in a way, us, “Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the man who fell in with the robbers?” We are living in a time when it is hard for us to figure out who our neighbor really is. People no longer treat one another with care and respect. With all the senseless shootings and endless fights around our country, I do not know if the idea of neighbor still exists. People do not seem to consider another human being their neighbor like they used to. We have seen people who are more willing to hurt and kill other people rather than reaching out to help a stranger like the Good Samaritan did. We have witnessed many in our society who would stick to their own positions on certain issues rather than reaching out to their neighbors to make compromises and try to build a peaceful community. We have watched our leaders agitate people and cause troubles rather than bringing healing to their neighbors and promoting harmony in their communities. Indeed, I dare to say that all the current shootings would disappear if everyone would learn to care for their neighbors and act like the Good Samaritan. I assure you that our country would be more peaceful and prosperous if our leaders would learn to reach out to help another human being and behave like the Good Samaritan did every day. What do we do as individuals? Some of you might be among those who support our parish efforts. You might be someone who volunteers for other organizations in our community.

This Gospel story is always in my mind. We may not be able to help everyone but do we do something? Maybe it is by supporting our parish efforts through Saint Vincent de Paul Society. Maybe we support the ABCD campaign of the archbishop. If we love God, we need to love our neighbor. Let us be compassionate with others. Let us love God with all our heart. Let us abide by the law of God: the Ten Commandments. It is in loving God and one another that we will learn how to always be One Body, One Spirit, One Family! Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Katharine Drexel, Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Michael the Archangel, Pope Saint Pius X, St. Charbel and St. José Gregorio Hernández, pray for us.

Yours in Christ Jesus!
Fr. Omar