Beloved parishioners,
We thank the Lord who continues to show us his love by writing his commandments within our hearts. We do not have to go too far to seek them out as they are very near to us. In the First Reading for this weekend’s liturgy, Moses urges the people to obey God’s commandments. This is prerequisite for enjoying the land into which God has brought them. He is the good Samaritan who sees us beaten, stripped of our possessions, and abandoned by the roadside for dead, on account of our sins, yet he does not discriminate. He comes down from his exalted position, reaches to save us, and pays the costly price for our redemption. In the Gospel selected for this weekend, Jesus concludes his teaching with the following words, “Go do likewise.” This is a commandment to go love like the good Samaritan. It is a command to go love as Christ loves us. It is a command to obedience to God’s laws.
In my experience, this is the most challenging part of discipleship. I want to control my reality and determine the cause of my life. In a word, I want to be my own God. But obedience entails surrendering my will to that of another. It means living on another’s terms. This other is the Superior Other, to whom I owe the very substance of my being. Obedience is the defining characteristic of a disciple. Discipulus, the Latin for disciple, can be interpreted as student. The disciple learns from the teacher, didaskalos. Jesus is the ultimate teacher of our faith. He teaches us how to obey God’s commandment. But more often than we would like to admit, we do not often listen to Jesus, but yield to the teachings of other false teachers – the culture, the media, friends/families, political ideologies, etc. Any teacher other than Jesus will certainly lead us to doubt and disregard God’s sovereignty over us. This has implications for discipleship. If God is not sovereign, he lacks the authority to command my obedience. And if God does not command my obedience, who does? If I am honest, I might find that I sometimes am an authority to myself, making laws for myself, and perhaps imposing same laws on others. Any supreme teacher other than Jesus will seek to promote their own death-dealing ends. They will exaggerate the difficulty involved in keeping God’s commandment and seduce us to take the easy way out, the way of disobedience. We must be cautious, because scripture tells us that there is a way that seems right to human beings but the end thereof is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12).
Our world celebrates dissidence and the complete disregard for God’s laws. We live in a time when everyone with internet access constitutes themselves as law-givers, and determiners of beliefs. We create our own value systems, even when they contradict God’s laws, and we sugar-coat them as gospels requiring others to live by those values. Unfortunately, our generation, and that of those who have gone ahead of us, could easily fit the description of Proverbs 30:12, a generation wise in its own eyes yet not purged of its filth.
But it is not all gloomy. Our world, once redeemed by Christ, can still be healed of its self-inflicted wounds. This will only be through obedience. It is how we prove our love for God. And we will be saved only by love. Love is foundational for living authentic Christian lives. Jesus shows us how to love by laying down his life for the life of the world. He says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it in abundance” (John 10:10). Let us ask him to teach us to love everyone, even the stranger within.
We are grateful to Msgr. Michael Heintz and Fr. Augustine Onuoha from St. Pius X parish, Granger, for helping us out this weekend. During the week, we will have the opportunity of welcoming Fr. Brian Carpenter, who would be providing priestly ministry here at our parish in the coming weeks. Please make them welcome.
May Jesus bless you, and may Our Lady protect you!