Which story should we focus on for mass today? The old testament reading and the gospel both have such wonderful stories, it would be hard to choose which one to think about. Both of the readings are so very different from each other, but what could they possibly have in common? Usually the readings for mass have a common theme, but at first glance today’s readings do not seem to have very much in common with each other.
However, if you think about it, on the surface they do have a few things in common. The focus of both of the readings are about men on a journey. Jonah was trying to escape God by traveling on a ship, whereas the Good Samaritan was traveling on a road and was not avoiding the Good Samaritan at all. That right there should give you a clue to what the readings for mass are all about today. Sometimes you just stumble upon the truth in the word of God without really giving it much thought.
That is exactly what happened to the Good Samaritan today too. He probably didn’t expect to come upon a seriously injured man on the road during his journey, but when he did, he just did what came natural to him. That is something to think about as well. The Good Samaritan was just a good person and he reacted out of the goodness of his heart, to take care of an injured stranger. It was an instinctive response that he probably gave little thought to, because it was just his nature to care about other people.
Jonah also unexpectedly encountered an usual event in his own life, when he found out God wanted him to become a prophet. Jonah did not react to God’s request out of the goodness of his heart, but rather out of fear. He ran off. God cured Jonah of his fear of Him and reluctance to do His will, quite dramatically though. Jonah was never the same after that! The bible is so funny sometimes. Why do people think the bible is boring? God cured Jonah’s fear of Him by throwing Jonah into the depths of the sea, and then bringing him to the brink of death before saving his life. Then, God tops it all off by making Jonah sit there and think about it for three whole days, before he allowed the whale to spit him out on the shore. It is so totally awesome how God works sometimes! You can’t help but laugh about it, but it really wasn’t a laughing matter to Jonah at all.
And, of course the injured man in today’s gospel was not a laughing matter either. The whole story in the gospel today is a much more serious affair. A scholar of the law questioned God’s own son. Think about that one for a moment! That was the chance of a lifetime for that scholar and he didn’t even know it at the time. Millions of people since then would have given anything for the opportunity to ask Jesus a single question too, but will never get a chance to do so. So often in life, when really important, life changing events do occur, we do not fully realize it at the time.
When the scholar in today’s gospel asked Jesus, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus responded that love is the most important thing. “You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” This is the most important scripture verse in the bible. It sums up the entire bible in one sentence.
If the parable in today’s gospel was based on a true story though, then the Good Samaritan probably did not realize the importance of the act he did that day either, when he picked up a total stranger and took care of him as if he was a member of his own family. He had a heart of gold, that is for sure.
It’s possible for us to grow a heart of gold too, though. A heart of gold does not just magically appear out of nowhere. It’s little acts of love that build up like raindrops in our soul until one day, our cup is overflowing. Love is a choice, it is not a feeling. We can cry at sad movies, but we know that they aren’t real. Our feelings are not an indication of the truth and the truth is, that love is a choice that we make, or do not make, in all the little things we do throughout the day. Every single one of our actions boil down to an attempt to give love or receive love, if you think about it. Today, let’s try to pay attention to all the little events that happen in our day and see how we can choose to love others, even if it is in a small way.
The Good Samaritan chose to treat another person in the same way that he himself would have wanted to be treated. The priest and the Levite in today’s gospel story did not. Jonah didn’t choose to love God either, at least initially. When he saw that the other sailors could end up dying because of him though, Jonah offered his own life to save them. In the end, Jonah did become a hero and loved other people even more than his own life.
When we do not initially respond well to a particular situation in our lives, we should remember Jonah, and realize that with God’s help, we can set things right again too. That wasn’t the main point of the readings for mass today, but it is still worth noting.
The first reading was about loving God more than anything else in our lives and the gospel was about loving others just as much as we do ourselves. These readings had a lot more in common than we first realized!
Daily Mass Readings:
Jon 1: 1-2, 2, 11 / Jon 2: 3, 5, 8 / Lk 11: 25-37
