15th Sunday of Ordinary Time [C]

 


15TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME [C]


Once the Christian movement gets underway, the next step is to look back so that we can sort out not only WHO Jesus was, but also WHAT he was? Some theologians will argue that Jesus was basically a human being—a human being commissioned by God to deliver a new body of teaching. Along with this point of view, we also have St.Paul and his point of view. Note how he opens his Letter to the Colossians: he opens by stressing the fact that Jesus possesses an actual divine nature (see Col. 1:15-20). In other words, Christ’s status can be described as an “exalted” status. 


What about our own status? Maybe we are not at the same level as Jesus. Nevertheless, we do enjoy a privileged status. After all, it’s recorded in the Book of Genesis that we have been created in the image and likeness of our God (1:26). This is true for every member of the human race, regardless of their nationality or their culture. Therefore, we owe something to one another. We owe a certain measure of respect, support, and even love (see Luke 10:27). The question is: do we follow through? 


In some instances, yes. For example, consider the pilgrims who sail across the Atlantic. They arrive at a location that will be identified as the Plymouth Colony. Having left behind the Old World, they commit themselves to settling into the New World. But it will prove to be a difficult process. And yet, this difficult process becomes less difficult when representatives from the native population offer to lend a hand. Most notably, it’s Chief Massasoit who steps forward, pledging his own assistance, along with the assistance of the Wampanoag people. 


You have to wonder: why would they help? These pilgrims are strangers. They are different. They come from a different land. They speak a different language. They have different customs. Why go through the trouble of helping them? It can be explained in this way: they offer help because deep down they know that it’s the right thing to do. They are following a morality that has been embedded within them. It’s a phenomenon that can be traced back to the Book of Deuteronomy (30:14). God’s law has been written upon their hearts. At a later stage, this principle will be referred to as the Natural Law. 


For their part, the natives don’t know anything about a Book of Deuteronomy. They don’t know anything about St. Paul. They don’t know anything about the Gospel of Luke. But they do grasp the concept of “neighbor.”  In the meantime, we do know about the Book of Deuteronomy, about the apostle Paul, and about the Gospel of St. Luke. We’re blessed with a kind of advantage. Does it show? Is it apparent that we have been endowed with this particular form of advantage? By rights, we should be able to “ace” the pilgrim test. We should be more than ready to serve our neighbor, no matter how familiar or how unfamiliar our neighbor happens to be. That’s the essential hope. Let us pray that it can be revealed as more than just a hope. 

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