July 13 – 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today we live in a fundamentally mercantile world, governed by the laws of marketing. From this perspective, life revolves around the endeavour to achieve maximum production at the lowest cost. But is this the true meaning of life?
The question of the teacher of the Law that opens the Gospel of this 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time is posed to the human spirit of yesterday, today and always: “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Although people are constantly chasing after money, if they stop for a moment, their conscience will challenge them with a query: “Are you following the right path?”
The Redeemer’s answer to the scribe – after reminding him of the commandment to love God and neighbour – resounds in hearts across the millennia and reaches our ears: “do this and you will live” (Lk 10:28). Jesus then tells him the parable of the Good Samaritan.
The Divine Master wants the image to be as clear as possible, and for this reason He makes it vivid and rich in eloquent symbolism, which helps people of all times and ages to put the divine teaching into practice. He emphasizes that the poor man, robbed and left “half-dead” (Lk 10:30) by the roadside, is avoided by personalities of great prominence and social prestige at the time: a priest and a Levite. Only a Samaritan – despised by the Jews – gives him generous and dedicated help, going to great lengths to ensure that he lacks nothing.
This is the axis of true charity, understood as love of one’s neighbour practised for love of God: those who give generously, without expecting retribution for the favours, obtain the understanding of the meaning of life.
People who are imbued with a mercantilist mentality are repulsed at the idea of such a financial loss, because they consider an expense that does not offer an immediate return the greatest folly. These poor souls, hardened in materialism, cannot see beyond the conveniences of commerce. They forget that in this world the law of the “echo of life” is in force, which means that life will implacably repeat our words and actions, just like an echo. If we shout “Egoism!”, the echo that will come back to us decades later will be: “Egoism!” But if we cry out “Christian charity!”, the echo will reward us later with the same generous and resounding voice: “Christian charity!”
The laws of spiritual knowledge often work in the opposite direction to material laws. And the Christian law is to love God above all things, and to love one’s neighbour as oneself.
Thus, those who sow a high level of charity will reap the fruits of the seed they have sown years later. Those who are more concerned with healing the ills of others than with their own advantages will receive their recompense when they least expect it. And if a charitable person does not receive the reward for their generosity on this earth, they will receive much more than a hundredfold in eternal life.
The law of charity wins souls on earth and graces from Heaven. Cultivate the law of Christian charity and you will live well in this world and triumph in eternity. “Do this and you will live.” ◊
