Fr Todd

“Go and Do Likewise”

At the time of this Gospel there had been a long history of tension between Samaritans and Jews. The tension was religious, ethnic, and political for all sorts of reasons, some clear some not. A formal break occurred between Jews and Samaritans in the 4^th century B.C. with the Samaritans taking their own Scriptures and moving to another sacred mountain, Gerezim instead of Zion. This 400 year tension is very much alive in the four Gospels. The Sons of Thunder, James and John, were ready to call down fire on the Samaritan people and kill them all. A man was considered ritually impure if he had contact with a Samaritan woman. When traveling, Jews often took an alternate route around Samaria rather than passing through. In John chapter 8, Jesus is insulted by the Jews when they suggest that he is possessed by the devil and possibly a Samaritan. Even our scholar of the law in today’s Gospel cannot bring himself to use the word “Samaritan” to describe the central character, he is simply referred to as the “one who treated him with mercy”. It is important to understand this tension to fully appreciate how radical Jesus application of “Love of God and neighbor” was in his story of a Samaritan helping a Jew who was overlooked by his own kinsmen.

If you were to list the three main books that attempt to define who we are as Catholic Christian people I think it would be the Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the Code of Canon Law. These three alone number in total probably close to 2000 pages in English. For most of us these texts are very academic, difficult to understand, and not very easy to digest and use on a regular basis. A priest may devote his entire life to the study of Canon Law.  A scholar or professor may study the Scriptures for years and still not understand the multiple nuances that the Scripture can have, or they may disagree on the meaning of the exact same text.

The brilliance of the two great commandments is that it sums up all of these texts into, well, two commandments. The foundation, everything you need to know to make the kingdom of God present here in the world and to get to heaven yourself is summed up in the two great commandments to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and to love your neighbor as yourself”. If you think about it, if you were to pray these two commandments everyday and dedicate your entire life to living them as best as possible, you have everything you need to live the Christian life. These two commandments alone could change the world and bring about the Kingdom of God.

In my parish ministry experience I continue to gaze in wonder at the different backgrounds that people come from. Everyone has a unique upbringing and understanding of who they are. An African-American is not an African, A Mexican is not a Guatemalan, and not all those people who claim to be Latino have a devotion or even know about Our Lady of Guadalupe. An Anglo is not a Hispanic and a Black English speaker is not Anglo. Even if we don’t take race and culture into account, we are still very different. A person from Kentucky is different than Indiana, A person from the East side grew up different from the West, and a “South-sider’ is definitely not a “North-sider” in Indianapolis. If you think about it there are well over 2000 things that make us unique both as individuals and as cultures of people. These can be celebrated if there is something that we can unite around or, as we see all too often, these differences seem to mostly divide us, to the point of conflict, violence and death.

When we speak of parish ministry it is crucially important that we look for points of unity, for things we have in common. Differences are fine but these always need unifying principles which hold it all together. One of these points of unity that we have is our lived faith, the two great commandments. When we love God with our whole heart mind and soul and love our neighbor as we love ourselves, we begin the process of seeing ourselves as God sees us: his precious creations, saved by Jesus Christ, equal in status, dignity, and recognition. God created Samaritans and Jews, Africans and Europeans, North and South Americans, Asians and Middle Easterners. The human beggar on the street is equal in dignity to the President of the United States, and God sees Pope Benedict XVI as he sees you and me, as his precious creation equally in need receiving his love and sharing it with others.

These two commandments lived daily help us to see ourselves as we are, a Catholic, a universal, Church. Being a Church of many peoples is inseparable from how we see ourselves. Our whole identity is wrapped up in seeing ourselves as part of a Church that is intended for a lot of other people. We talk a lot about multicultural ministry; I think it should just be called what it is: Catholic ministry. We certainly wouldn’t be the Church of Jesus Christ if we had simply one race, culture, or language. Living the two great commandments helps us understand what being a parish really means for us. When we Love God with our whole heart, mind and soul, and love our neighbor as ourself it means, quite simply to be the Catholic Church to be a Catholic community.

Today we are commanded to see ourselves as Jews and Samaritans, who have been asked to apply the two great commandments to our lives. St. Monica has received the call to treat each other with mercy, love, and care and to receive it from unexpected people.

We do this hoping that, by our example, the world will go and do likewise.

Hola Padre,

Solamente quiero saludarle y la communidad de Santiago Apostol en el dia de su fiesta en Domingo. Dios les Bendiga!

 Paz y bendiciones de la communidad Santa Monica!

Fr. Todd Goodson

Eucharistic Adoration

On July 27th-30th I will offer a four part series on Prayer and Catholic Spirituality in the St. Augustine Room. It will be particularly focused on prayer for beginners, looking at ways to start a life of prayer or improve the one you have. Please join me for a light pitch-in meal, a talk, conversation and prayer. Each evening will begin at 6:00pm and conclude at 8:00pm, and you are free to come to just one night, two, or all four. For more information and registration you can contact Ann Corcoran (acorcoran@stmonicaindy.org, 253 2193 ext 5).

God Bless and looking forward to seeing you there!
Fr Todd

ICSC Parish Stewardship Newsletter for July 2010

ICSC Parish Stewardship Newsletter for July 2010 – Spanish