As our second reading reminds us this weekend, everything Christ does teaches us what it looks like to walk in right relationship with God. Jesus, being God in the flesh, teaches us through every word every action what being a child of God should look like. It is a personal example for us taking theology out of the hands of a select few and placing it, by example, as an ideal for each of us to strive for. Now our own journey follows in His footsteps. When we stumble, we go to confession, and a death to selfishness is the path we tread.

In our Gospel this weekend we have the example of the Good Samaritan. It is a reminder that Jesus Christ teaches us to always erase the boundaries of what is proper to love. He asks us, and gives us Himself as an example, to expand our definition of love, day by day, to include more actions, more people, less of ourselves.

The History of why Judaeans hated Samaritans is complex and delves into history. The Kingdom of Israel was first fractured into Samaria in the north Jerusalem in the south. Then came the Assyrians that conquered the northern kingdom first and the southern kingdom a hundred years later. Some historians believe that when Jerusalem was conquered some Samaritans were already allowed to return to their conquered land and settled in lands that belonged to Jerusalem, leading to bad blood. It was at first a political division, but became hatred and infighting and led to the false notion that these neighbors were worth nothing more than one’s hatred. These two kingdoms, by the way, comprised a smaller geographic area than Cincinnati and Dayton, we are talking about small areas of land, not separated by vast plains or large distances. The Sea of Galilee is probably not larger than Caesar’s Creek Lake.

So, these two nation states, that have almost every belief in common, believed they were more important than the other, or so vastly different from each other. Part of the friction with Beacons of Light that I hope time and shared priests will mitigate is the notion that we are different from each other.

Let’s take a moment and revel in our unity. We are Catholic, we are children of God, we believe in the Sacraments and importance of the Church in our world. We are all trying to raise families that navigate the trials of this world by the compass of faith, hope and love. I have been encouraged by so many of you traveling to each other’s parishes for Mass, or showing up to formational or social events that are familial. I truly believe over time the notion of family will start to solidify. After that work is done, we need to look ever outward expanding our notion of neighbor to encompass everyone we meet that needs our help or shows us compassion.

May the Love, Peace and Grace of God be with you,

Fr. Adam