Who is properly qualified to inherit eternal life?

 Indeed, the Samaritans and the Jews were often antagonistic toward one another.

   “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”   This fulfills Leviticus 19:18,

    Jesus says, “Go and do likewise.”

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Galaatians 1:6-12

I am surprised at how quickly

You have abandoned God who called you according to the grace of Christ, and have gone to another gospel.   Indeed, there is no other gospel, but some people who are sowing confusion among you want to turn the Gospel of Christ upside down.

 But even if we ourselves were giving you another gospel different from the one we preached to you, or if it were an angel from heaven, I would say: let God’s curse be on him! As I have said I now say again: if any­one preaches the Gospel in a way other than you received it, fire that one.   Are we to please humans or obey God? Do you think that I try to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

  Let me remind you, broth­ers and sisters, that the Gospel we preached to you is not a human mes­sage, nor did I receive it from anyone, I was not taught of it but it came to me as a revelation from Christ Jesus.

 

Ps 111:1b-2, 7-8, 9 & 10c

the Lord will remember his covenant forever.

  

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊  

Luke 10:25-37

Then a teacher of the Law came and began putting Jesus to the test. And he said, “Master, what shall I do to receive eternal life?”   Jesus replied, “What is written in the Scripture? How do you understand it?”   The man answered, “It is written: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”   Jesus replied, “What a good answer! Do this and you shall live.”   The man wanted to keep up appearances, so he replied, “Who is my neighbor?”

 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.   Like­wise 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 wrap­ped 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.”

 

    Gospel Reflection：

An Allegory

In the tradition of the allegorical interpretive approach to the gospels, the Good Samaritan is Jesus Christ. The wounded man on the side of the road is the humanity wounded by sin. The inn stands for the Church which, as Pope Francis has said, is the field hospital meant to care for the wounded humanity.

The two coins that the Samaritan deposits with the innkeeper refer to the sacraments Christ has instituted and commanded the Church to use for the care of souls. The Good Samaritan promises to pay more when he returns: In his Second Coming, Christ will reward us for our faithfulness. In the intervening time between now and the Second Coming, our task is to care for the victims on the margins of the society as well as the common home entrusted to us by Christ; to “do the same” as the Good Samaritan Christ has done in the parable.