Go the Extra Mile

Vincent Van Gogh's Good Samaritan

The Gospel according to Luke tells the famous story of the Good Samaritan. The Samaritan in those days was persona non grata among the Jews, someone you would never be seen with. That was the shock of this parable. Who’s our neighbor? Jesus says everybody, even this Samaritan. Every man, woman, child, whatever ethnic background, religious tradition, sexual orientation, is our neighbor, so to speak.

I think of that as we saw news this weekend about severe floods in Louisiana and Mississippi, and a blackout in New York.

Jesus says very simply yet very powerfully that we love God to the extent that we love one another. And Jesus challenges us to make acts of kindness part of our daily routine. Matthew 25 says this loudly and clearly: When I was hungry, when I was thirsty, you did something.

We can’t say we love God and yet neglect our fellow beings. Our love for one another doesn’t depend upon what others can do for us. Jesus aided many people who apparently couldn’t do much in return. Although people can surprise us!

Jesus makes some radical demands regarding our relationships. Read carefully Chapter 5 in Matthew. Jesus says: Give to the one who asks of you. Give to everyone? It’s not always possible. But that demand indicates the direction of our lives: to be generous with what we have, with our time, talent and treasure.

Jesus says: To the person who strikes you on one side of the face, offer the other side as well. Sometimes we have to stand up against wrongs. Again, Jesus indicates the thrust or direction of our lives, that is, we should do our best to be peacemakers, healers, bridge builders, reconcilers. We also find his well-known advice to go the extra mile.

Now these radical demands by Jesus of course have to be linked to Jesus’s mission. He proclaims that the kingdom of God is breaking into our midst. Yes, the kingdom is here, but not completely or fully. You and I are living in between the historical coming of Jesus in Bethlehem and the final coming of Jesus in glory at the end time. So we live in that tension between the present and the future.

Often we fall short of the ideals of Jesus, because we have within ourselves a “pull” or tendency to not always choose right over wrong. People sometimes choose evil over good. The Catholic tradition calls this “original sin.” This tradition also proclaims that the power of God within us –as our creator, redeemer and sanctifier--can overcome that tendency, and enables us to have a genuine relationship with God and with one another.

How? By sharing what we have with others. Sharing our time-especially with our families. Sharing our talents-a smile or a skill that will uplift someone else. Sharing our treasure, especially with people in need. All of us have the potential to do great things for God. And it begins with small, ordinary things, each day.

The great eighteenth century preacher, John Wesley, summed up our potential for doing great things for God with the phrase; do all the good we can.  By all the means we can.  In all the ways we can.  In all the places we can. At all the times we can.  To all the people we can. As long a ever we can. Amen.

God's Priority is Love

Dali's Sacrament of the Last Supper

How many are tired of mid-term politicking? Here’s how politicians in Colonial America sought feedback from their constituencies. They sent their assistants to local taverns, to “go sip some ale and listen to conversations.” Assistants were dispatched to different places. “You go sip here” and “I'll go sip there.”

“Go sip” morphed into the word “gossip.” Maybe that’s what polls are.  We'll know Wednesday!

Sometimes we ask ourselves: what’s the one thing I want to be known for?  Such questions may reveal what’s really important to us.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus was asked to prioritize the commandments. Without hesitating, he reveals what is most important to God by quoting the She’ma, a daily prayer still recited today by Jews:

“Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”
Then Jesus adds a quote from the holiness code in Leviticus:
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The scribe notes his response to Jesus: You are right…to love God and to love your neighbor is worth “more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Jesus Christ, our high priest, through his death and resurrection opened up to all humankind eternal life with God. Yes, in the mystery of death is eternal life. God called you and me for a specific purpose in this earthly life and an unimaginable future in heaven. Christ anticipates this future.

I would like to suggest how we might begin to experience this by becoming more aware of the presence of God as we go about our daily routine. One way to make the best of the present is to practice the presence of God. The great masters of Christian spirituality say this practice is an art.

Yes, we can experience the presence of the divine all around us in nature and in people. But we encounter the living Christ in a privileged way in the liturgy. The Risen Christ is present  as we gather together in his name. He dwells in each of us through our life of discipleship with him. We connect with one another as sons and daughters of God our Father in a way that expresses the unity of the mystical body of Christ, our global faith community.

The living Christ invites us, through the presider, to sing and pray in worship of the Father. We also encounter the living Christ in the word: listening with open ears and open hearts because Christ has a word for each of us, a word that hits home.

Then Christ reveals his presence to us in the reality of his body and blood. This is an intensely personal and communal moment as we are deeply united with Christ and with all who share this sacred meal in this community and in our world-wide faith community. Communion links us through the sacramental body of Christ to his mystical body.

May God grace us abundantly so that we can practice the art of the presence
of God as we go about our daily routine of working and traveling and shopping and exercising and eating with family and friends.  And then we will make the best of the present moment.