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Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
- caelidomum
- Aug 30
- 6 min read
Updated: Sep 6
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost. Christian Generosity.
The Gospel according to St. Luke, x. 23-37.
“At that time Jesus said to His disciples: Blessed are the eyes that see the things which you see. For I say to you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them; and to hear the things that you hear, and have not heard them. And behold a certain lawyer stood up, tempting Him, and saying: Master, what must I do to possess eternal life ? But He said to him: What is written in the law ? how readest thou ? He answering said: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. And He said to him: Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said to Jesus: And who is my neighbor ? Jesus answering said: A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, who also stripped him, and having wounded him, went away, leaving him half dead. And it chanced that a certain priest went down the same way, and seeing him passed by. In like manner also a Levite. when he was near the place and saw him, passed by. But a certain Samaritan, being on his journey, came near him; and seeing him was moved with compassion. And going up to him, bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine: and setting him upon his own beast, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day he took out two pence, and gave to the host, and said: Take care of him: and what soever thou shalt spend over and above, I, at my return, will repay thee. Which of these three, in thy opinion, was neighbor to him that fell among the robbers ? But he said: He that showed mercy to him. And Jesus said to him: Go, and do thou in like manner.”
Summary of the Morrow’s Meditation.
According to our usual custom, we will tomorrow interrupt our meditations upon humility that we may meditate upon the gospel of the day. We shall there admire, in the person of the good Samaritan, two beautiful characteristics of Chris tian generosity: 1st, his noble sentiments towards an enemy who despised him; 2d, his still more noble conduct. We will thence deduce the resolution: 1st, to render to our neighbor all the good offices which we may have an opportunity of doing, whatever it may cost us; 2d, to treat with special kindness all of whom we may have cause to complain, and always to render good for evil. We will retain as our spiritual nosegay the words of St. John: “Let us not love in word nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (I. John iii. 18).
Meditation for the Morning.
Let us adore Our Lord offering- us in the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke x. 23) a touching example of Christian generosity, of that beautiful virtue, the virtue which is the quality of great souls, which is not only charity, but charity ac companied by sacrifice, and which shone forth in the whole of Our Saviour's life. Presented in the person of a priest or a Levite, it would produce but little impression, because such persons, when doing good, would only be fulfilling a duty of their position; but presented in the person of a stranger passing along the road, it is invested with a more striking character. Let us receive this divine lesson with sentiments of respect, gratitude, and love.
The Noble Sentiments Entertained by the Samaritan towards an Enemy who Despises him.
The Jews despised and hated the Samaritans as a nation who had deserted their belief and their worship, who had separated themselves from the people of God and adored a golden calf. They would not hold any intercourse with them, and would have imagined themselves to have been soiled if they had eaten and drunk at their table, or admitted them to their own. Nevertheless — and how admirable it is — the Samaritan of our gospel loves even those who hate him and who despise him. He meets on his road with a Jew whom he has never seen, whom he does not in the least know; but he sees in him a man, a man who suffers, who is unhappy, who is forsaken. It is sufficient to touch his heart. He is travelling, and wishes to reach the end of his journey quickly; but in presence of such misfortune he forgets his own interests; interruptions count as nothing. Others have passed along the road and have not honored the wounded man by a single glance; but such bad examples as these do not influence him; he stops, draws near, and tries to console the sick heart, to solace the wounded body. It is thus that Christian generosity acts. It does not see any reason for hatred or diminished love in a diversity of opinions or beliefs, in the hatred which ill-disposed hearts bear towards the wretched, in the contempt they show them, in the character of an unknown person or a stranger, in their own interests being compromised, or in the example of the rich man who has no bowels of compassion. Very different from those narrow minds who will not be charitable except on condition that others will think like them, it does not esteem itself to be the only one who thinks aright, or if it be certain that it is in possession of the truth, it only pities those who have not the same happiness, and endeavors by dint of charity to bring them back to what is true. It pities those who dishonor through hatred and contempt their noble char acter of Christian, and deems itself happy to be able to render them good for evil, a gentle word for a hard one, a testimony of affection or of esteem for a hateful or contemptible act. No one in its eyes is unknown or a stranger; it sees in all men, made after the image of God, children of God, members of Jesus Christ, heirs of the kingdom of heaven; and on account of these titles they are all dear and honorable; to render them service, no sacrifice is too great, no interruption inconvenient, no bad example sufficient to make them deviate from the line of charity. Let us here examine ourselves and see whether we find in ourselves these characteristics of Christian generosity.
The Noble Conduct of the Samaritan towards an Enemy who Despises him.
It will be in vain that we shall imagine we are accomplishing the precept of charity, if we do not pass from sentiments to acts. Works are the language of the heart; it is by its fruits and not by its leaves that we judge of the goodness of a tree. Therefore the Samaritan had hardly looked at the poor traveller who had been robbed, who was ill. and covered with wounds, and who had no one to succor him, before he descends from his horse, goes up to him, washes his wounds with the wine he had brought with him for his journey, soothes them with a little of the oil he had about him, and then, putting him upon his horse, takes him to the nearest inn. There he gives a sum of money to the mistress of the inn, recommending her to take great care of him, and promising to pay her on his return all that the wounded man might have cost her. What a beautiful example of disinterestedness and of generosity ! He does not spare anything, he sets no bounds to his alms. Let us then admire such noble conduct ! The good Samaritan shows his love not merely in words, but in works and in truth. This is the true character 1stic of charity (I. John iii. 18). He gives all that he has — the wine, the oil, and the money with which he had supplied himself. He does not love who does not dispense his possessions or his money when his neighbor is in need of them. In addition to his possessions and his money, the good Samaritan gives himself. What a touching spectacle it is to see him on his knees before the poor wounded man, himself dressing his wounds, purifying the flesh with wine, correcting the acidity of the wine with the soothing nature of the oil, then binding up all the wounds ! How beautiful it is next to see him taking his dear patient in his arms, placing him as gently as possible upon his horse, conveying him to the nearest inn, laying him on his bed, as a mother would her child, and, after giving his orders and his money in order that he might be treated in a proper manner, promising to return as soon as possible and pay all that his patient might have cost. It is thus that true charity devotes itself; it is not afraid of trouble, and it is a pleasure to it to sacrifice body and soul for the welfare of its neighbor.
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.
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