For today's first reading, we begin a trip through St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians. Today St. Paul writes, "If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ." We should always be seeking to please God, not people.
Today's Gospel reading from Luke 10 is the parable of the Good Samaritan. To a Jew, these words would not have gone together. Jews hated Samaritans, and vice-versa. A Jew would never think of a Samaritan as "good." There was nothing good about them, no good in them. So this story was probably shocking to Jesus' hearers.
Do you have a "Samaritan" in your life? I find in our contentious political environment that, for many, people who support the opposite political candidate are like Samaritans to Jews. They are ignorant, foolish, stupid, despised. Let me ask you: If someone rescued you from a burning building, wouldn't you be grateful? What if you found out they voted for the other candidate? Would that change your opinion, make you less grateful? Who is your Samaritan? Could it be that when you speak to them one on one, they're actually good people?
Father, help us to stop making "Samaritans" of others. May we judge people by the content of their character, and not the way they vote. Amen.
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God Bless you for your beautiful message Gus!!
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our leaders – both in our Church and government – followed this concept?!
Too many base their choices on the “Who” instead of the “What” is being said. I pray that all will follow the moral compass of God’s commandments.