Sunday, July 14, 2019 15th Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Dt 30: 10-14
2nd Reading: Col 1: 15-20
Gospel: Luke 10:25-37
Jesus then said, “There was a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
“It happened that a priest was going along that road and saw the man, but passed by on the other side. Like wise a Levite saw the man and passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, too, was going that way, and when he came upon the man, he was moved with compassion. He went over to him and treated his wounds with oil and wine and wrap ped them with bandages. Then he put him on his own mount and brought him to an inn where he took care of him.
“The next day he had to set off, but he gave two silver coins to the innkeeper and told him: ‘Take care of him and whatever you spend on him, I will repay when I come back.’”
Jesus then asked, “Which of these three, do you think, made himself neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The teacher of the Law answered, “The one who had mercy on him.” And Jesus said, “Go then and do the same.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Each time the Parable of the Good Samaritan is read, I am reminded of People vs Gecomo. Percival Gecomo argued that he couldn’t have succeeded in abducting Complainant in full public view and taken her to the places of the commission of rape on foot. He adds that if Complainant had cried for help upon her kidnapping, the people around them would surely have come to her aid. But the Supreme Court said, “Appellant failed to consider the other side of human personality – apathy, cold-heartedness, indifference or insensibility. Maybe someone did notice the audacious taking of complainant but simply opted not to help her as they were too preoccupied or were afraid to do so. Not everyone who passes on the road to Jericho is a clone of the Good Samaritan.”
Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan was a direct affront to the Jews who arrogated salvation exclusively to themselves by virtue of their status as God’s chosen people. Someone may challenge the soundness of the Parable in defense of the Levite and the Priest who were only observing the law on ritual purity. This law prohibited physical contact with the dead. But the Parable does not intend to refute said law but to enshrine charity to a plane higher than any law.
Apparently, most of us are not at ease yet with the truth that we are our “brothers’ keepers”. As the Supreme Court correctly observes, “Not everyone who passes on the road to Jericho is a clone of the Good Samaritan”. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M
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