Fifteenth Sunday, Ordinary Time. Year C - Sunday, July 13, 2025 (EPISODE- 538)
Readings for Sunday, July 13, 2025 - Fifteenth Sunday, Ordinary Time. Year C
FIRST READING: Deut 30:10-14
Ps 18:8-11 - "The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart."
SECOND READING: Col 1:15-20
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (Luke 10:25-37). Alleluia, alleluia! Your words, Lord, are spirit and life. You have the words of everlasting life.
GOSPEL: Luke 10:25-37
Image Credit: https://creator.nightcafe.studio/creation/8KFrTYO4Zp8IlhnawO6I/the-good-samaritan?ru=Paul-Evangelion
++++
Please listen to the audio recordings of the Mass – (Readings, prayers and homily), for Fifteenth Sunday, Ordinary Time. Year C - Sunday, July 13, 2025, by clicking this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-ep-538 (EPISODE- 538)
+++++
Prologue
The readings this weekend are really beautiful. Each of them has a similar thread running through them. What we believe in, the Word of God, and how we live this Word, is extremely important.
Living this Word, must be practical, down-to-earth, touchable. The Word of God is not something distant or theoretical or ponderous, but it's alive and active and it's living in our hearts and minds and on our lips.
God is not some distant figure. He's God made flesh, who shows us exactly what God the Father is really like, and how God treats sinners, and how God loves us infinitely. In the Gospel, Jesus reinforces this by telling that famous and wonderful parable of the Good Samaritan. We show love for God and have His Word in our hearts to the extent that we show love to our neighbour, that is, anyone in need, and how we respect ourselves and the gift of life and responsibility we've been given.
[FHL]. Pk.
++++
HOMILY
Imagine a newly married couple sitting down to their first dinner together after they've returned from their honeymoon. Just imagine that new husband said to his new wife, "I just want to get one thing clear with you as your spouse. I don't want to be seen to be shirking my responsibilities, so could you just tell me what is the absolute least thing that I can do to satisfy the requirement of being a good husband?" Could you imagine such a question? It's outrageous and it's rightly crazy.
Of course, this would be awful. It would be immature and shocking, and an unloving attitude. The answer to such a question, if it even needs answering, is twofold.
One, this is about love, not merely the letter of the law or doing one's duty. This is not about grudging doing of the bare minimum. This is about love, friendship, companionship between two people who are living, loving and working together, united in heart and mind.
How much does one need to give? The answer is whatever it takes! Everything you've got. We're not just in this together for a capped 30% minimum, nor are we here for merely 50-50 whilst keeping the score all the way.
It's actually 100% by both of the parties. So as crazy as this extreme example is, the lawyer is asking Jesus something very similar in today's gospel. And although we can scoff at such a preposterous scenario, we too can be guilty of asking insanely similar things of our Lord.
For whenever we try to ration our commitments out, our responsibilities to our Lord, to the very minimum, and this Lord is everything to us, then if we do that, we're asking the same crazy question as the ill-considered groom in my theoretical example above. The lawyer in the gospel is looking for a clear and definite pathway to heaven, and so he asks, what must I do? When Jesus tells him the answer is compassion and love, the lawyer again asks for a definition. What are the limits of this? Jesus tells him that the way of Christ is not lived by merely following the rules, not satisfying the meagre rationing out of our efforts, nor is the gospel kept by staying merely within the strict and limited boundaries, the absolute minimums.
Rather, the gospel is lived by responding to life with love, with God's love, wherever and whenever we find it, with that love and compassion of God abiding in us. This is the love that is God's very essence, serving, self-sacrificing love, generosity to others and to all. Our Lord's answer immediately alerts the lawyer to how ridiculous the question is that he's asking, and the lawyer becomes sheepish and embarrassed and tries to justify his question with a clarification about, well, who is my neighbour then? But this is again an attempt to limit one's commitment, and Jesus is not going to let him slip away with things that easily.
Eternal life is a free, generous, unrestrained, authentic gift of true, compassionate, self-forgetting love for others, giving what is needed, giving all we have and giving it freely with love and compassion and not grudging duty. Living in a loving relationship with God means loving and caring for all that God has created and going beyond the minimums, the reservations, the fears, the restrictions, and instead responding freely, lovingly, passionately, come what may, and irrespective of the personal cost to the situations and people that life throws up at us. The law of God, the word of God, is not some distant thing we're told.
It's not written in stone, but it's living, it's breathing, it's flexible, it's a loving law, as the first reading tells us. The word of God is very near to you. It's in your mouth.
It's in your heart for your observance. With this parable, Jesus shows us that God's love doesn't care one jot about what others think of a person. God's love does what is right, what is compassionate, what is just.
God responds to real needs, irrespective of popular opinions. The scripture commentator William Barclay gives profound insights into this parable. He writes, The first listeners to our Lord's parable in 1st century Palestine would have been utterly shocked and quite thrown off balance by the unexpected results of the story Jesus told.
The hero in Jesus' parable is not the one the listeners expect. The hero turns out to be the one who is usually despised by Jesus' listeners. How could the good guy in this story be the Samaritan? They would have gasped in astonishment and some disgust.
The priest and the Levite turn out to be not responding the way Jesus was teaching God's disciples to respond. Utterly shocking again. Interestingly, the traveller who gets attacked has been very foolish, possibly even reckless.
The road to Jericho was notorious for robbers. It was a steep and winding and narrow path, descending rather quickly. People who travelled that road always travelled in groups, and even then, they were taking their lives in their hands.
They certainly would be risking death if they dared travel alone and with valuables. So, our Lord is saying, even if people have been foolish and have contributed in some way to the situations, they've found themselves in, gospel compassion responds to their needs and doesn't moralise. Compassion doesn't encourage us to stop and not help until we try and apportion blame or fault.
A true friend and disciple of Christ doesn't respond to real and urgent needs by first going, hmm, does this person deserve help? Have they brought this on themselves? If so, then I don't need to help them. Not at all. Not ever.
Compassion, God's compassion, does not stop to work out whether people deserve a loving response when their own folly may have played a big or small part in their situation. That's quite irrelevant to compassion and its response. The parable Jesus tells does not suggest that the priest did not care about the poor person who's been robbed and left for dead.
It may have been that the priest was very concerned for the victim in his mind, however it's clear that he puts his religious and legal duties ahead of the human and physical needs urgent at that of this robbery victim. Neither of them seem to even go off to get help, they just walk on their way. The Samaritan alone was prepared to help in a practical way.
If we ever think that urgently rushing to the aid of someone in serious need is ever forbidden by God's laws or teachings, then we've definitely read these teachings very wrongly. We must help any person of any nationality, any creed, any value system. Anyone who's actually in need is our neighbour.
Our help must be as wide as the love of God and that is to say as wide as something that can't be measured. The help we give must be practical and not consist only of feeling sorry for someone when practical action is what's really needed. No doubt the priest and the Levite felt a pang or two of pity for the wounded man, but in the end they did nothing to help him, which our Lord makes clear is not acceptable.
In order for the fullness of compassion it must flow out into deeds. What Jesus said to that scribe, he says to us today, go and do the same.
+++++
References:
Fr Paul W. Kelly
**William Barclay - THE DAILY STUDY BIBLE SERIES. REVISED EDITION. THE GOSPEL OF LUKE. THE WESTMINSTER PRESS. PHILADELPHIA. 1975
Image Credit: https://creator.nightcafe.studio/creation/8KFrTYO4Zp8IlhnawO6I/the-good-samaritan?ru=Paul-Evangelion
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Fifteenth Sunday, Ordinary Time. Year C (Sunday, July 13, 2025)
(EPISODE- 538)
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
+++++++++++++
{{May Our Lord's Fidelity strenghten you.}}
My brothers and sisters, we have gathered to celebrate the Holy Eucharist, - so let us pause and reflect upon our sins, so as to rejoice in Gods loving mercy.
Lord Jesus, you healed the sick: Lord, have mercy
Lord Jesus, you forgave sinners: Christ, have mercy
Lord Jesus, you give us yourself to heal us and bring us strength: Lord, have mercy.
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Ps 69:13+16, 29-30, 32-33, 35ab+36. "The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart."
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (Luke 10:25-37). Alleluia, alleluia! Your words, Lord, are spirit and life. You have the words of everlasting life.
Memorial Acclamation
3. Save us, Saviour of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
PREFACE: Sundays Ordinary IV
Eucharistic Prayer II
Communion side. pwk: LH
(theme variation: (welcome 4) Good evening/morning. A special Gold Coast welcome to everyone, especially visitors to this part of the world. We hope your stay is enjoyable and blessed. Our Presider tonight/today is Fr…………………………. Please stand as we sing our entrance hymn. +v26)
(pre+post variation: v1-long)
++++
{Thank you for giving generously of your time and prayer.}
Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.
++++++++
Archive of homilies and reflections: http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
To contact Fr. Paul, please email: paulwkelly68@gmail.com
To listen to the weekly homily audio podcast, please click this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/tracks
You are welcome to subscribe to Fr Paul's homily mail-out by visting here:
Details relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:
"Faith, Hope and Love - Christian worship and reflection" - Led by Rev Paul Kelly
Prayers and chants — Roman Missal, 3rd edition, © 2010, The International Commission on English in the liturgy. (ICEL)
Scriptures - New Revised Standard Version: © 1989, and 2009 by the NCC-USA. (National Council of Churches of Christ - USA)
"The Psalms" ©1963, 2009, The Grail - Collins publishers.
Prayers of the Faithful - " Together we pray" by Robert Borg'. E.J. Dwyer, Publishers, (1993). (Sydney Australia).
Sung "Mass in Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin" - By Jeffrey M. Ostrowski. The Gloria, Copyright © 2011 ccwatershed.org.
"Faith, Hope and Love" theme hymn - In memory of William John Kelly (1942-2017) - Inspired by 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. Music by Paul W. Kelly. Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2019.
"Quiet Time." Instrumental Reflection music. Written by Paul W Kelly. 1988, 2007. & This arrangement: Stefan Kelk, 2020.
"Today I Arise" - For Trisha J Kelly. Original words and music by Paul W. Kelly. Inspired by St Patrick's Prayer. Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2019.
Sound Engineering and editing - P.W. Kelly.
Microphones: - Shure Motiv MV5 Digital Condenser. And (2024+) Rode Nt-1 + AI-1 Sound Mixer.
Editing equipment: -- MixPad Multitrack Studio Recording Software v10.49 (NCH Software).
NCH – WavePad Audio Editing Software. Masters Edition v 17.63 (NCH Software)
Sound Processing: iZotope RX 10 Audio Editor (Izotope Inc.)
Text transcription as per recorded podcast version is transcribed by TurboScribe.ai
{excellent and accurate transcription from voice to text}
[Production - KER - 2025]
May God bless and keep you.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
