ALWAYS AND EVER OUR MOST BELOVED BENEDICTUS XVI
See preceding page for earlier entries today, 8/8/16...
For those of us who attend the traditional Mass, the Gospel for the XII Sunday after Pentecost, yesterday, was the story of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10, 23-27).
We tend to forget that Jesus told the story to answer a Pharisee-like lawyer who sought to test him by asking "What should I do to possess eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law". And the lawyer rightly answered, "You shall love God above all, and love your neighbor as yourself". "Then do that", Jesus said. But the man persisted, 'Who is my neighbor?" In answer to which Jesus told the story.
At Holy Innocents, our pastor, Fr. Miara, noted that the man's second question was a way of excusing himself from doing what he had to do... We all know the traditional interpretations of the Good Samaritan parable - to remind us that we are our brother's keeper. But, Fr. Miara noted, this does not just mean in the physical and material sense. The neediest of men are those who are steeped in sin, and the greatest poverty is not to have God. And therefore we must not forget that 'prayer is the greatest charity we can do to anyone'. (A simple thing I do not think JMB has ever enjoined us - it simply is not part of his message, because for him, charity is above all, and even possibly, exclusively, material charity.)
I thought that was particularly a good reminder, especially to those of us who may not be in any condition to help others materially, not even those in our own family. But anyone and everyone can pray, and offer prayers for others, not just that they may be relieved of their material necessities but, above all, to receive the gift of conversion and reconciliation with God.
The blogger at THE TORCH OF FAITH, a Britisher who took his Master's degree in theology from the Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, touched on the allegorical meanings in the parable of the Good Samaritan and cites the interpretation of St. Bede, who sees Christ himself as the Good Samaritan....
Christ as the Good Samaritan
THE TORCH OF FAITH
August 8, 2016
...This Gospel is very often presented as an exhortation to Christians to reach out and help those that we find broken along the highways and byways of life. In helping others, we can thus minister to Christ in and through them. And, right enough, this is certainly one of the various levels of meaning conveyed through the Sacred text.
However, in an age which has become dominated by a kind of Pelagian self-sufficiency, with all that this implies for individual effort and self-improvement, it would be dangerous to stop with just this reading.
Indeed, the parable of the Good Samaritan has much more to offer in terms of consolation to battle-weary Catholics everywhere.
Writers as varied as St. Ambrose of Milan, St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Clement of Alexandria, St. Ireneaus of Lyons, St. John Chrysostom and St. Bede of Lindisfarne were able to draw forth deep allegorical interpretations, which were so rich that they still have much to offer in the 21st-Century.
By way of example, here is St. Bede's marvellous presentation of such an allegorical reading.
The man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho is Adam representing the human race.
Jerusalem is the city of heavenly peace, of that happiness from which he has been separated by sin.
The robbers are the devil and his angels, into whose hands Adam fell, because he went down. They stripped him and robbed him of the glory of immortality and the robe of innocence. The injuries they inflicted upon him are sins which, violating the integrity of human nature, let death in through half open wounds.
They left him half dead because they deprived him of the blessedness of eternal life, although they could not abolish in him the faculty of reason by which he knew God.
The priest and the Levite who saw the wounded man and passed by denote the priests and ministers of the Old Testament who could only show up the wounds of the sick world by the decrees of the law, but could not cure them because, as the Apostle says, it was impossible for them to wash away sin with the blood of calves and lambs.
The Good Samaritan (the word meaning Guardian) is Our Lord Himself. Having become man He is brought close to us by the great compassion He has shown towards us.
The inn is the Church into which Our Lord Himself brings man, as the Good Samaritan brought in the wounded man on his beast, for no one can take part in the Church unless he is baptized, united to the Body of Christ, and carried like the lost sheep on the shoulders of the Good Shepherd.
The two pence are the two Testaments bearing the name and image of the Eternal King. Christ is the fulfilment of the Law. The two coins were given the next day to the innkeeper, because on the morrow of His Resurrection, Our Lord opened the eyes of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and of his Apostles, that they might understand the Holy Scriptures.
For on that day, the innkeeper received the two pence as a reward for his care of the wounded man, because the Holy Ghost descending upon the Church, taught the Apostles all truth, that they in their turn, might be able to teach all nations and preach the Gospel.
It can be spiritually fruitful to set aside some time to prayerfully read through this Gospel; and then to apply the allegorical interpretations to one's own life. The conception of Christ as the Good Samaritan ministering to us as the wounded travellers can be particularly helpful and consoling.
If we are honest with ourselves, and with God, we can acknowledge that we, too, find ourselves battered on the road of life.
We have descended from the promises and graces of our baptism; and have been left wounded by our own sins, the sins of other people and the attacks of the infernal enemy on our souls.
Although many loved ones and former friends have passed us by, we find ourselves surprised by Christ, Who has come out to find and restore us. As He explained to St. Margaret Mary, our suffering endears us to Him.
And so, without having done anything to deserve His help, He has taken on our sins, hurts and sufferings. Yes, He has even gone so far as to carry us in His flesh and secure us in the inn of His Holy Church.
In that place of security, He gradually binds up our wounds with His love and teachings. Again, He has cleansed and nourished us with the oil and wine of His holy sacraments.
With all that has been happening in the Church through Synods '14 and '15 and so on, the parable of the Good Samaritan gives us a good opportunity to remember again that
Christ has given us the inn of the Church and brought us to it for the healing and convalescence of our souls.
At the end of the parable, the Good Samaritan orders the innkeeper to look after the wounded traveller and He also assures the innkeeper that He will return to repay him.
We can rest assured that if those responsible for looking after the inn have not looked after us, but have even increased our wounds, then they will have to answer to Christ when He returns at His Glorious Second Coming.
What we must not do, is try and discharge ourselves from the inn to find any other way of being healed and restored. Our job is to remain in the Church which Christ in His mercy has given us for our salvation, sanctification and security.
...The parable of the Good Samaritan consoles us with the knowledge that it is not so much what we do, as it is about what He is doing for us. If we but let Him carry us, and receive the oil and wine which He lavishes on us in His Church, then our convalescence can progress. Although recovery from any sickness can be difficult, and in the case of sin it is particularly precarious, there is great peace available to those who learn to live in the Church in this way.
It is also a great message to share through evangelization to the broken people of our time.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 11/08/2016 03:35]