Bible
Study: Deuteronomy 30, 10 to 14. Colossians 1, 15 to
20 and Luke 10, 25 to 37.
To really
get the message in today’s Gospel passage, try to read the first line and the
last line. This is how it will appear: “Teacher, what must I do to inherit
eternal life?” … “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the
man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” “The one who showed him mercy.”
Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
In other
words, if we want to inherit eternal life, then we must show mercy to every one
regardless of who they are. Another word for neighbour is “human being.” He may
not speak my language, he may not come from my country, he may not even be my
friend, but so long as he was created by God, he is my neighbour. And my basic
calling as a Christian is to show mercy.
Whatsoever
you do to the least of my brothers; that you do unto me. When I was hungry, you
gave me food to eat. When I was thirsty, you gave me drink. When I was sick or
in prison, you came to visit me… now enter into the home of my father. Our place
in heaven shall be determined by how we were able to make this earth a heaven
for our fellow brothers and sisters. Remember the song: “The time to be happy
is now, the place to be happy is here and the way to be happy is to make
someone happy and we will have a little heaven down here.”
There are
two things that often act as obstacles on our path to show mercy: SELFISHNESS
and BITTERNESS.
To be self-centred
is to live inside a prison with only three persons; I, me and myself. That is
the world’s most lonely prison. Most often we do not realise how rich we are or
how much we have to be grateful for until we step out of our world and into
that of others. No matter how you think you may be suffering, there are still a
lot of persons who are far worse than you. You only need to look around and you
would notice how many people have been beaten by life and left half dead on the
way. You are never too poor to help. You are never too unfortunate to show
mercy.
Bitterness
is a disease of carrying past hurts in your heart and allowing them to fester
like a wound that will never heal. You may have been hurt in the past, perhaps
in your attempt to be kind to others, they repaid your good with evil. Perhaps you
are scared of stopping to help that person on the road because you feel he or
she may be an armed robber in disguise. But remember that, that person may just
be you and you too would expect someone to help you. Let go of whatever pain
others may have inflicted on you in the past. Jesus was able to say: “Father,
forgive them for they know not what they do.” Make excuses for people who have
hurt you and do reduce your health or wrinkle your face to early because of
bitterness.
Someone said
it costs N 4,500.00 for oxygen in the hospital for just one hour. That means,
for a whole day, oxygen costs N 108,000.00. So for a month, you need over three
million naira to buy oxygen yet that is what we get from God free of charge. If
God were to ask us to pay, what are we going to say? All he asks is that we
keep his commandments. And as Moses tells us in our first reading, these
commandments are not even difficult. We don’t need somebody to go to heaven to
bring them down for us, we don’t even need to study catechism to know the
commandments. We don’t need to be literate even. These commandments are right
inside our hearts. They are summed up in love for God and our neighbour.
Listen to
your heart. Follow your conscience. Do not disregard that small voice that
tells you to help that brother or sister in need. Let your faith supersede your
fears. Do not become superstitious and begin to think that if you give money to
a beggar for instance, he or she might use your money against you. Faith in the
power of God should make you know that the kindness you do can never become
your undoing in life. Listen to your heart. Help, don’t hinder. Go and do like
the Samaritan and eternal life will be yours.
Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus, you saw me
beaten by sin and left for dead. That is why you left your throne in heaven to
die on my behalf that I may have life once again and eternal life at that. Grant
me the grace to replicate your mercy and kindness to my fellow brothers and
sisters. Amen
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy Sunday.
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