Recently, I was reading some of the writings of Meister Eckhart, a German Dominican priest, theologian, and philosopher from the 13th century. He spoke about the difference between looking for something and seeing something. His famous quote states: "The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me," which emphasizes the unity of the human soul with God. According to Eckhart, seeing God in something doesn't come from external searching, but rather from turning inward toward the foundation of our being, where God and the soul are one. Thus, one person who looks at something through the lens of faith imbedded in his heart can see one thing, but someone who is not looking through the perspective of faith can see something very different.
Our Gospel story of the Good Samaritan today calls us to recognize Christ in others and to love others, especially those most in need. We are challenged to show our neighbor kindness and mercy. Faith is not just knowing God’s word. We are challenged to make our faith come alive through our actions and through the life choices we make each day.
The priest and the Levite walked past the injured man in the Gospel story. In many ways, they did not even see him. However, the Samaritan chose to respond to the needs of the injured man on the road in compassion and mercy, even though Jews and Samaritans were enemies at the time. Jesus ends this Gospel story with a clear instruction: “Go and do likewise.” This message is at the heart of what it means to live as a follower of Christ.
You all know that I go on mission appeals each year for the Diocese. Many Dioceses require their parishes to have a mission appeal each year. The mission appeal exposes their parishes to the missionary work of the universal Catholic Church, and to support that work financially. I have always done these mission appeals as long as I have been a priest, even before my assignment as Vicar General. For two weeks in a row, I went to parishes in the Diocese of Providence (Rhode Island) and in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Two very different realities compared to us here in Mississippi.
While we have the lowest percentage of Catholics in the nation, Rhode Island has one of the highest. Even so, the priest in Rhode Island was sharing with me that they are going to be looking to close parishes in the future, because the number of parishes they have is too great for their current reality. The mission appeal was in the town of Cumberland, Rhode Island on the Massachusetts border, with a population of 35,000; that town has five Catholic parishes.
Then in Los Angeles, I had a mission appeal at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary parish in Sun Valley, and its mission, Our Lady of Zapopon in North Hollywood. I had nine masses there that weekend, seven of them in Spanish and two in English. Definitely a very working class parish in the inner city, but a very vibrant large parish. The pastor told me they had 180 confirmations this year. They also have a school. After the masses ended for the day, everything was locked up in padlocks and chains. But their Masses were very well-attended and had a very joyful spirit. Although, I felt like I had run a marathon by the end of that weekend. When they asked me about some of the parishes here in our Diocese, I told them about places like Belzoni, Anquila, and Hollandale with less than 20 people at Mass each weekend, they cannot even comprehend that reality. Even though these mission appeals takes a huge effort and big sacrifice on my part, doing these mission appeals really gives me a greater sense of the Catholic Church here in the US. It helps me understand who my neighbor is, that my neighbor may have a very different reality than my own.
The story of the Good Samaritan can be seen as a story of bringing God’s healing presence into someone’s life. Last Friday was the second Friday of the month when I offer the sacrament of the anointing of the sick during the daily Mass. I am a very strong believer in the power of God to heal and in the power of our sacraments. I offer the anointing of the sick each month at Mass to give everyone the opportunity to receive this sacrament, since all of us need healing in our lives in different ways in body, mind, and spirit. Reconciliation is also a sacrament of healing, but healing in a different way, in which the penitent confesses his sins and has his sins forgiven. Both of those sacraments are important parts of the sacramental life of the Church in which we are called to participate.
May the story of the Good Samaritan inspire us to bring God’s healing presence to others.
