The
theme of our readings today is the
sacrifice of love. In the
first reading Jonah was asked by God to help him deal with the Ninevites, which
would involve much trial and danger because these were a rebellious people.
Jonah decides to run away from God and his duties and hop a ship for Tarshish.
But he found out that it doesn’t pay to run from God because an unexpected and
great storm blew up and almost sunk the ship, at which point the captain
decided it was time to cast his reluctant passenger overboard – this he did.
But even then God had his way by swallowing Jonah up inside a whale. God has
his way with us, sooner or later; it makes life so much easier for us if we go
along from the start and make it sooner!
In
the gospel passage Jesus is teaching about love: how loving God
is most important, and how it is verified and confirmed by loving our neighbor:
that is, anyone at all who needs our compassion, our ministrations, our
healing, our prayers, our encouragement, our strength and our support.
Sometimes priests and Levites – those professionally trained to do these things
– are the very ones who find a thousand excuses for running away from their
duties (like Jonah did) – but then God chooses the most unlikely, a Samaritan,
a nobody, a suspicious malcontent kind of a person, to show up the
professionals – and moves them to do the truly compassionate thing.
Loving
is not easy: but it is quite doable, thanks to the
energizing grace and strength of Jesus given us by the Holy Spirit – and
enflamed each time we receive Holy Communion. May our reception today of the
Bread of Life, cause us to share Life with others along the way!
I give
you a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you.
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