Homily Fifteenth Sunday Year C Put into action
Homily:
Fifteenth Sunday Year C
Reading
1: What was the great commandment for the Israelites? It was summed up in these
words: There is no other God. God alone is our God. You shall love God with all
your heart, mind and strength. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. They
would recite this at least three times a day. Moses here is reminding the people after one
of their rebellious actions against God of the command of God which they
previously said yes to. Even though they had sinned, they were invited to
return to the Lord with all their heart and soul.
Once
more Moses enjoins them to embrace and live what is already on their hearts and
in their mouths. But to know something is not enough. To speak the truth is not
enough. It must be acted on. How often we know what is right but do not do it?
Paul calls this the law of sin within us. He says: I do what I don’t want to do
and I don’t do what I want to do. Woe is me, I am a wretch, he says. Only in
Jesus, who has saved me, do I have the grace to overcome this law of sin
within.
If
we were conscious of our relationship with God would we choose to sin? If a man
or woman really loves their spouse, would either one be unfaithful even in the
heart? Sin is the opposite of love. The reason the Israelites repeated the
great Schema was to keep the Lord ever before them and to choose the way of the
Lord, rather than offend the Lord through sin.
Reading
2: Paul talks about the centrality of Jesus as the God/Man. Without saying it
directly, he is proclaiming that Jesus is truly God and Man. How does he say it
in different ways? He is the first born of all creation, reflecting his humanity. He is the image of the invisible God,
reflecting his divinity. Jesus said he
who sees me sees the Father for the Father and I are one.
Being
the first born of all creation, he is the pattern of all creation. All things
were created for him, through him and in him. Yet He is God. He is before all
things and all things are sustained in existence through him.
Do
we hear the foundation of our Creed which we proclaim each Sunday? He is God.
He is the beginning, the first-born of the dead through his resurrection. He is
preeminent. In him all fullness dwells in him as God. Through his death and
resurrection he has reconciled us to the Father, bringing peace and healing.
Gospel:
The first thing we notice is this is another attempt to test Jesus and to
discredit him as a teacher. The question is legitimate. What must I do to
inherit eternal life? It is the same question another person, the rich young
man, also asked Jesus.
In
his response, Jesus quotes the great schema that Moses referred to in the first
reading. Notice Jesus responded with a question. When the scribe answered
correctly, Jesus responds with the words of Moses: Do this and you will live.
The
man is not satisfied. He questioned Jesus further, not because he was really
interested, but to justify himself. Jesus knows the animosity between the Jews
and the Samaritans. He knows the ritual laws of purity and cleanness that the
scribes would follow. So he chooses an illustration that will throw light on the
law of legality and the law of love.
When
the scribe affirms the truth of love, Jesus pushes him further by saying it is
one thing to know the truth but it must be lived and acted on to make a
difference. Do we go out of our comfort zone to help others or do we put
barriers between ourselves and others? Do we just know what is right and wrong
or do we act on what we know is true?
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