But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’
Taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke, Tenth Chapter, Verse 29.
Now Jesus will take an opportunity to teach the young lawyer. He will instruct him on the requirements surrounding acts of neighborliness. Jesus will tell him in no uncertain terms that we are all joined together as brothers and sisters. Jesus will ask the lawyer to go and believe the same thing.
We do not know if Jesus’ words made an impact on the young lawyer. Did he go out and change his ways? Did he take the focus off his desire for personal justification? Did he learn that justification comes from living a life in accord with God’s way?
In the same way, we do not know that much about each other. How much will today’s readings, the message of this homily, the sacraments, bring about change in our lives? How much will this Solemnity of Brotherly Love bring about a change in us? Will we still ask: Who is my brother?
We are certainly pious. We are here every week. We work hard for the Church and for each other.
But are we changing?
The Orthodox Jewish singer Matisyahu sings about change in his song —Chop ’em Down.— In the song he sings:
From the forest itself comes the handle for the ax
Consider that: the forest provides the wood for the very ax that will change the face of the forest. From within the forest comes the tool that will make the forest over.
Brothers and sisters,
By our baptism we are God’s children. Jesus Christ is within us. That’s the starting point. Now we must accomplish great changes, both within ourselves, and across the world.
From the very depths of our being we must find the tool, the thing that will bring about change in our lives and in the world. We must recognize Christ within ourselves —“ the demanding and exacting Jesus who teaches all righteousness. Then seeing Him, we must live His word and see Him in each and every person we meet.
The lawyer’s idea of justification is wonderful. We can have life with God forever —“ and that’s great. But if, like the lawyer, think that the road to the justification is paved with easy platitudes, or pre-set formulas for accomplishing change, we are sadly mistaken.
It is not an easy road. The road to heaven, the road to treating each and every human being as a brother and sister, is most difficult.
Difficult, not only in recognizing Christ in our brothers and sisters, but also difficult in witnessing to them —“ witnessing by actions that accept them in love, witnessing in accepting and loving them while holding up Christian witness to the proper path and way of living. Witnessing, not be preaching to them, but by loving their humanity and by acting as Christ would. To live according to God’s ways.
We all have the thing in our personal forests that can be fashioned into a tool to make ourselves and the word over. We have the capability to treat each person as a brother or sister, for God is in us. That is a gift from God. It is not self made, nor is it put there to be admired from afar. It is there to be used, and used in doing right, worshiping right, and witnessing correctly.
God states, through the prophet Jeremiah:
I will place My law within them, and write it upon their hearts.
He fulfilled that promise in His Son, Jesus. He wrote His law in the flesh of our hearts. He writes it in each and every heart, and we are to recognize Him.
That is why each person is a brother or sister. That is why each is the image of God.
We are the instruments of change. We are the good Samaritans, we are the wood of that ax handle —“ the one that will change everything. We must take action to cooperate in making all things new.
We may never know the extent of the change in that lawyer, or in the person sitting next to you. That is really unimportant. The only thing we can know is the extent to which God has brought about repentance, change, charity, and compassion in our lives. How my eyes and your eyes have changed.
St. John concludes by telling us that:
Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world.
If we bear Christ, if we are one with Him in our journey of change, if we bear His love, the gospel message, and our witness in treating all with brotherly love, then we will be confident before God’s throne.
Let us begin today.
