Deuteronomy 30:10-14; Colossians 1:15-20; Luke 10:25-37
On the Road to Jericho, I am Samaritan: What about You?
The English referendum to exit European Union and the senseless racial killings in the United States challenge us, Christians, to re-evaluate the meaning of progress, technological progress, without the knowledge and practice of Christian virtues! At the peak of Black discriminations in the United States, there wasn’t this level of killings; but why not? Because Christian virtues trumped hatred and violence! The European recipe to the spate of violence and World Wars was the creation of “unions” which peaked in the founding of European Union, with African Union as its offshoot. A global form of it is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These are examples of what Christianity and Christian virtues can create: just imagine the disappearance of Christianity and its virtues of unity and peace! Back to the basics or back to Christian virtues, that is the message today!
An old adage says, “sow an act, you reap a virtue, sow a virtue and you reap a habit, sow a habit and you reap a character, and character makes a man”! This adage is imperative today, not only for Americans, who are grappling with senseless shootings, but also for every Christian who is a lover of peace and unity, because God wants his children to live in peace and harmony. The fundamental question Americans are asking is: how is this possible, especially from Afro-Americans? My singular answer is: Civil Rights Movement was Christian! Unfortunately, that Christianity is now of the past and has become a relic! So, what is next?
The book of “Deuteronomy,” from where our first reading is taken, means “second law.” In other words, the Law of the Lord was forgotten or abandoned and the need to revamp it became necessary. You know what, it is high time we too revamped the laws of the Lord in our lives today, if we hope for peace and unity. If that Law stood our ancestors in good stead in the past, it can do the same for us today.
Laws normally get negative press because the majority of people find them difficult to keep. What is more, our societies have got tones of laws, ranging from constitutional, criminal to bylaws. God is aware of this and so he summarizes his laws as “love of God and neighbor.” To love God is to love one’s neighbor. How simple! The lesson today is that the laws of the Lord are not things to be memorized or to be avoided. The Law of the is RELATIONSHIP not REGULATIONS! It is about who we should be and become and not what to avoid. It is about the cultivation of virtues and right or Christian relationships. This is the imperative of our adage about – begin a step by step learning to live Christian virtues, especially peace and concord.
From the gospel of today, we all live on the road “from Jerusalem to Jericho,” it only depends on our direction, whether we are facing Jericho or Jerusalem. Our gospel tells the story of a man on his way from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he was robbed and left for dead! This is the picture of the moral bankruptcy of our times! To take the road to Jericho is to be exposed to robbers and assassins; it is to be vulnerable to all sorts of ills and potential violence. To face Jericho is to turn one’s back on and to Jerusalem, the city of God, the center of the practice of virtues and God’s Law. Worse still, the inhabitants of this road, who are neither the residents of Jerusalem nor Jericho have created a buffer zone for themselves, thinking that they are innocuous both to God’s laws or human clutches. This is the zone of sinners and the morally bankrupt!
Jesus’s face, on the contrary, is turned towards Jerusalem; Jesus goes up to Jerusalem, facing up to all the ruggedness and violence of the road. This is climbing up the higher moral ground, despite all odds. Odds of brigands and assassins. Yes, not only Jesus, Samaritans too ply that route; those who are the non-conformists of our times – these are Christians, the Samaritans of today; those who still listen to the voice of God and respect his laws, against the odds of sin and atheistic liberal democracy and despotic market economy.
“Go and do likewise.” This is Jesus’s injunction to you and me – become a lover of your neighbor, especially the dying and vulnerable, a person with a compassionate heart, a person who takes the moral higher ground and highway. This person is a Christian! We know this because that is what Jesus did for us, and he invites us to do the same! St. Paul realizes this, that is why he says of Christ, in our second reading today: “Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” (Colossians 1:15). In other words, to see God is to see Christ, the image of God. Likewise, wherever a Christian is, there is Christ, for a Christian is the image of Christ and his ambassador. It is the lifestyle of a person that shows whether he/she is a Christian or not, not just their words!
Our collective road to Jericho, the violence and iniquities of our generation, will only cease if we decided to face Jerusalem and opt for the moral high ground of Christian virtue, despite the its consequences upon our private security and comfort. In fact, a true Christian sacrifices his comfort for the comfort of his neighbor; he/she receives the bullet destined for his neighbor and his enemies, because he does not have any enemies only neighbors. As for me, I am a Samaritan, a modern day Christian: what about you?
Assignment for the Week:
Can you seek out and help any victims of accident, robbery, rape, etc this week?
Nice homily my prof. The lord said love your neighbor as yourself. I believe that if you Dnt love yourself you can’t love your neighbo . You cannot give what you Dnt have. Today’s readings adding to the words of my prof is a call for Responsibility and care especially for our spiritual growth because most of us care for the material things. In friendship money is not important what is important is care and effort and that is what God wants from us. God bless you. Anoka chibueze. Seat of wisdom seminary Owerri. 08064067547