Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Fascinating stories have touched the imagination of countless generations down through the centuries. Apart from the fascinating power of the story itself, we believe that in the Bible, the Spirit of the Lord inspires both the storyteller and the listener.
Today we begin the first part of the fascinating story of Jonah who fled God’s call to accept a mission that Jonah thought was both impossible and disagreeable. The details of the great escape story were indeed intended to sound both impossible and disagreeable. It was meant to make the point that God can and does use even weak and reluctant instruments to do the will of God. Do we sometimes want to run away when mission assignments are passed out?
The parable of the Good Samaritan in today’s Gospel is just as powerful as the story of Jonah, but it goes in the opposite direction. Jonah was running away and tried to avoid the mission. How different from the anonymous Samaritan! He stopped, interrupting his own travel schedule, and then stooped low in the ditch to pick up the bleeding person. Not only that, but he anointed his wounded neighbor with the oil of overflowing compassion.
The story’s central issue deals with the often-expensive choice to be made in compassion. Have we had to make a similar choice in the past? Was it a case of mission impossible or mission possible?
Reflection by Fr. Daniel Petsche, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections