A Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. – Luke 10:33

       Aylan Kurdi’s photo was all over the Internet. The three-year-old kid was wearing a red shirt, blue shorts and black shoes. He lay face down on the beach, lifeless. The caption read, “Humanity washed ashore.” It brought to stark reality the desperate plight of the Syrian refugees.

       Cristal Munoz-Logothetis was horrified by the picture and decided to find a way to help. The Californian mom saw in the news haggard refugees with babies in their arms. She then remembered her baby carrier collecting dust in the garage. Thus Carry the Future was born. Its mission is simple: collect baby carriers and distribute them to refugee families arriving in Greece. They have helped thousands of grateful families to date.

       How many pictures and stories have we “liked” and “shared” in social media to let others know we care? How many times have you commented “Amen!” to show your support and prayer? In real life, how many have you actually helped?

      True compassion means not only feeling another’s pain but also taking action to help relieve it. May our compassion move us into concrete action. Cecil Lim (cez_lim@yahoo.com)

Reflection: “The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist.” (Saint Gregory the Great)

Lord, break my heart with the things that break Yours.

St. Dennis and Companions, pray for us.

This is a great story of how Jonah fled from God’s command and then owned up to the fact that he was the problem for those on the ship. It is futile to try to escape the Lord’s sight as He has a way of finding us eventually. When we admit that we have been disobedient to Him, we realize that we have forfeited so many blessings in the wasted years of our disobedience. It is much better to simply obey the Word of God when it first comes to us.

1 This is the word of the Lord that came to Jonah, son of Amittai: 2 “Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it; their wickedness has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah made ready to flee to Tarshish away from the Lord. He went down to Joppa, found a ship going to Tarshish, paid the fare, and went aboard to journey with them to Tarshish, away from the Lord. 4 The Lord, however, hurled a violent wind upon the sea, and in the furious tempest that arose the ship was on the point of breaking up. 5 Then the mariners became frightened and each one cried to his god. To lighten the ship for themselves, they threw its cargo into the sea. Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship, and lay there fast asleep. 6 The captain came to him and said, “What are you doing asleep? Rise up, call upon your God! Perhaps God will be mindful of us so that we may not perish.” 7 Then they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots to find out on whose account we have met with this misfortune.” So they cast lots, and thus singled out Jonah. 8 “Tell us,” they said, “what is your business? Where do you come from? What is your country, and to what people do you belong?” 9 Jonah answered them, “I am a Hebrew, I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Now the men were seized with great fear and said to him, “How could you do such a thing!” They knew that he was fleeing from the Lord, because he had told them. 11 They asked, “What shall we do with you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea was growing more and more turbulent. 12 Jonah said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea, that it may quiet down for you; since I know it is because of me that this violent storm has come upon you.” 13 Still the men rowed hard to regain the land, but they could not, for the sea grew ever more turbulent. 14 Then they cried to the Lord: “We beseech you, O Lord, let us not perish for taking this man’s life; do not charge us with shedding innocent blood, for you, Lord, have done as you saw fit.” 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea’s raging abated. 16 Struck with great fear of the Lord, the men offered sacrifice and made vows to him. 2:1 Butthe Lord sent a large fish that swallowed Jonah; and Jonah remained in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 2 From the belly of the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord, his God. 11 Then the Lord commanded the fish to spew Jonah upon the shore.

R: You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.

3 Out of my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me; from the midst of the netherworld I cried for help, and you heard my voice. (R) 4 For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the sea, and the flood enveloped me; all your breakers and your billows passed over me. (R) 5 Then I said, “I am banished from your sight! yet would I again look upon your holy temple.” (R) 8 When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; my prayer reached you in your holy temple. (R)

Jesus makes it clear that we have no choice as to who our neighbor is. It is any person we may meet. We are not to distinguish between friend and foe, countryman or foreigner. Each and every person in the world has the same fundamental dignity, and as such deserves our care and attention. We will spend more time and be more committed to a limited number of people — family and close friends. However, this does not absolve us of our responsibility to do whatever we can for others who are in need.

I give you a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you.

25 There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” 27 He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 He replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” 29 But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. 32 Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. 33 But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. 34 He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’ 36 Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?” 37 He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

think: Who is that neighbor that God wants you to show His love to?

Read the Bible in one year Wisdom 5-8

T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST

thank You, Lord, for: ______________________________________________________

TO NEIGHBOR ONE ANOTHER

Every morning, a wife would peek through her window and see her neighbor hanging newly washed clothes on the clothesline. Every morning, she would always tell her husband how bad she was at washing clothes, “Look, the clothes she washed are still dirty.” The husband would just smile.

       After some weeks, the wife said to her husband, “Look, the clothes she is hanging are now clean. Do you think she heard my comments about her dirty clothes?” The husband replied, “No. I cleaned our window.”

       Ask any man on the street what neighbor means and you will surely get something like: someone who lives nearby, a person or thing situated near another, someone who is good to another, a relative by blood or affinity, etc. What is common to all these definitions? They are all nouns.

       Today in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus reminds us that neighbor is not so much a noun as it is a verb. In reply to the question of the lawyer, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus narrates a story of a man who was robbed and left for dead by the roadside. Many neighbors passed by, i.e., they walked near him. Finally, a Samaritan, considered an outsider during Jesus’ time and, therefore, someone who is not near but far off, stopped and took care of him even beyond the call of charitable expectations.

       As far as Jesus is concerned, neighbor is not a noun. It is a verb, an action word, something we do that gives flesh to our verbal professions of friendship, closeness and nearness. Fr. Joel Jason

---------- REFLECTION QUESTION ----------

In your own home, workplace or immediate community, are you more than someone who is nearby?

When opportunities come for me to be a neighbor to someone, Lord, do not let me just pass by. Amen.