July 13, 2025 Homily: Fr Vigoa — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:07There's a reason why this story of the
2. 0:10good Samaritan is so well known.
3. 0:14It's well known even outside of
4. 0:16Christian circles.
5. 0:18It seeped into our culture so deeply
6. 0:22that people will use the term, oh, be a
7. 0:26good Samaritan. And everyone knows what
8. 0:28that means.
9. 0:31But if we leave it there, if we only see
10. 0:34it as a lesson of kindness,
11. 0:38we miss the deeper message that Jesus is
12. 0:41trying to give us in this parable.
13. 0:45This is not just a story about being
14. 0:47nice.
15. 0:50It is in fact a story about you. It's a
16. 0:54story about me. And if we have the
17. 0:57courage to enter into this mystery,
18. 1:01it becomes not a morality tale, but a
19. 1:05parable about sin,
20. 1:07of mercy, and of salvation.
21. 1:11I want to begin at the beginning.
22. 1:15He says that a man is traveling from
23. 1:17Jerusalem down to Jericho.
24. 1:21He's attacked,
25. 1:23beaten, stripped of his dignity, robbed
26. 1:26of his worth, and then left half dead
27. 1:29there on the side of the road.
28. 1:32This is not just a story. It's a
29. 1:34diagnosis.
30. 1:36It's the human condition.
31. 1:39Remember, we're going deep into what
32. 1:41this means, what this parable means.
33. 1:43Listen carefully.
34. 1:46Since the fall of Adam, humanity has
35. 1:49been that man in the ditch,
36. 1:53stripped of original holiness,
37. 1:56wounded by sin, hurt at the deepest
38. 1:59levels of who we are.
39. 2:03We try to convince ourselves that we're
40. 2:05doing fine, that we can manage,
41. 2:06everything's okay.
42. 2:08But if we're honest, if we take a hard
43. 2:11look in the mirror, we see that there
44. 2:14are bruises.
45. 2:17We'll see the ways in which we've been
46. 2:19hurt
47. 2:21and the ways that we've been harmed or
48. 2:23the ways that we've harmed others.
49. 2:27No matter how polished you look on the
50. 2:29outward appearance, deep down we all
51. 2:33know we have all been left by the
52. 2:35roadside.
53. 2:37We have been left half dead in that
54. 2:40ditch.
55. 2:43And then what happens next? Jesus says
56. 2:45that a priest passes by.
57. 2:48A Levite also passes by. Both religious
58. 2:52men, both involved in the worship of
59. 2:55God, and they both just keep on going.
60. 3:00They saw him, but they did not stop.
61. 3:04Why?
62. 3:05Well, maybe they were too busy. Maybe
63. 3:08they were afraid it was a trap. But more
64. 3:11likely, they did not want to be deemed
65. 3:13unclean.
66. 3:16But for whatever the reason, these
67. 3:18figures, these symbols of the law, of
68. 3:22ritual, of religion, could not save this
69. 3:25man.
70. 3:27They saw the wounds, but they had no
71. 3:30power to heal him.
72. 3:33And that too is part of the parable's
73. 3:35message.
74. 3:37Law alone cannot save us.
75. 3:40Religion without mercy cannot restore
76. 3:43us.
77. 3:44Good behavior, following all the rules,
78. 3:47even regular attendance at mass.
79. 3:51None of these heals the soul unless it
80. 3:53is united to the transforming power of
81. 3:56God's grace.
82. 3:59Then Jesus says, "A Samaritan comes
83. 4:02along." Now, you got to put this in
84. 4:05context. Understand what Jesus is saying
85. 4:07here.
86. 4:09And this is probably where the listeners
87. 4:11were expected the story to take a dark
88. 4:13turn.
89. 4:15Why? Because Samaritans were despised.
90. 4:19They were the religious outcasts, the
91. 4:21impure. They were the heretics, the
92. 4:24halfbreds.
93. 4:26But then Jesus flips the script.
94. 4:30The Samaritan becomes the hero.
95. 4:33And that's the point
96. 4:37because in the Samaritan we are seeing a
97. 4:40shocking image of Christ himself.
98. 4:44The one who is rejected by his own. The
99. 4:47one who is considered blasphemous,
100. 4:49dangerous to others. He is the one who
101. 4:52sees the wounded man and is moved by
102. 4:56compassion.
103. 4:59The Greek word used here is visceral.
104. 5:02It implies this gutwrenching,
105. 5:06heartbreaking mercy that he feels for
106. 5:08this man.
107. 5:10This is not some concept of love.
108. 5:14It is a type of blood that bleeds for
109. 5:16the other.
110. 5:20He doesn't just look. What does Jesus
111. 5:21do? What does a Samaritan do? He stoops
112. 5:24down.
113. 5:25He binds the wounds. He pours oil and
114. 5:29wine, signs of the sacrament,
115. 5:32and he brings them to an inn.
116. 5:35The early church fathers saw the inn as
117. 5:38the symbol of the church
118. 5:41where the wounded are brought to rest to
119. 5:44be cared for. The church is where we are
120. 5:47healed.
121. 5:49And Christ pays the pays the cross cost
122. 5:53of himself. And what does he do? He
123. 5:55says, "I promise to return."
124. 5:59Again, this is not a a feelgood tale
125. 6:02about helping people, being kind.
126. 6:06This is the gospel in a very miniature
127. 6:08way.
128. 6:12So you are the road. You are that man on
129. 6:15the road.
130. 6:17Jesus is the one who saves you,
131. 6:21not because you deserve it, but because
132. 6:23he loves you.
133. 6:26And the church is a place where his
134. 6:28mercy continues to be poured out over
135. 6:30and over again.
136. 6:34Now, the final words of the parable are,
137. 6:36"Go and do likewise."
138. 6:40But we must be careful not to reduce
139. 6:42this again call to this generic
140. 6:45kindness.
141. 6:48It's a call to live in the same rhythm
142. 6:50of mercy that we have received.
143. 6:54It means that once you have been healed,
144. 6:56you are sent out to be now another
145. 6:58healer.
146. 7:01That's the rhyth rhythm of disciplehip
147. 7:05because it begins with your own
148. 7:07encounter with Christ
149. 7:10and not just a passing moment of
150. 7:11inspiration but a real surrender,
151. 7:16a real beginning when you finally decide
152. 7:20to give your life completely over to
153. 7:22Jesus. When you choose a life of grace,
154. 7:26to go to mass faithfully,
155. 7:28to go to confession regularly, to allow
156. 7:31the sacraments to really penetrate your
157. 7:34life,
158. 7:36what happens is
159. 7:38something begins to change in you.
160. 7:42Healing begins slowly, sometimes
161. 7:46quietly, the Lord starts to put back
162. 7:48together what the world and what sin has
163. 7:51torn apart.
164. 7:54Now don't get me wrong, therapy and
165. 7:57counseling are important.
166. 7:59I've seen it help many people's and
167. 8:01often I have re recommended people to go
168. 8:04to counseling.
169. 8:06But I also say this
170. 8:09therapy can only take you so far.
171. 8:12Only Jesus Christ can take you the rest
172. 8:15of the way and heal you at the root.
173. 8:20Only he can touch the soul. Only he can
174. 8:23reach the deep places, the ones even we
175. 8:26don't fully understand.
176. 8:30Over the years, I've sat with people
177. 8:31carrying enormous pain.
178. 8:34People who have family wounds,
179. 8:36addictions, betrayals, despair,
180. 8:40and they all want advice.
181. 8:43They want something that will fix their
182. 8:46pain. But I tell you this,
183. 8:50unless that person is connected to
184. 8:52Christ, unless that person is living a
185. 8:54life of faith, unless they've decided to
186. 8:56walk with Jesus,
187. 9:00my words may comfort them for a moment,
188. 9:03but they will never take root.
189. 9:07They will not bring any lasting change
190. 9:10or relief
191. 9:12because healing doesn't begin with good
192. 9:14advice.
193. 9:16It begins with surrender.
194. 9:19It begins with repentance. It begins
195. 9:21with a decision to stop living as your
196. 9:24own savior
197. 9:26and letting God be the real savior. You
198. 9:28are God and I am not.
199. 9:32That's the only way that healing of the
200. 9:34s that's the only way the healing of the
201. 9:37Samaritan the healing of Jesus can reach
202. 9:40you.
203. 9:41And once it does,
204. 9:44once you've allowed yourself to be
205. 9:45lifted up and carried by Christ, then
206. 9:48and only then can you begin to carry
207. 9:51others,
208. 9:54then and only then can you recognize the
209. 9:56woundedness that is around you and then
210. 9:59move towards them and not away.
211. 10:03So I ask you today,
212. 10:07who have I stepped over lately because I
213. 10:10was too busy or uncomfortable?
214. 10:13Who in my life is bleeding on the inside
215. 10:16and I haven't even noticed?
216. 10:19Or maybe the question is more basic.
217. 10:22Am I so consumed with my own self that I
218. 10:26have not allowed Christ in my heart?
219. 10:30Because you can't be the good Samaritan
220. 10:33until you have first been that man in
221. 10:35the ditch.
222. 10:38You can't pour wine and oil into someone
223. 10:41unless you have allowed Christ to pour
224. 10:43the oil and wine into you.
225. 10:47So today, don't settle for the surface
226. 10:49lesson.
227. 10:51Go deeper.
228. 10:53Reread this parable.
229. 10:56Admit that you have been wounded.
230. 10:59that sin is real, that self-reliance
231. 11:02isn't enough.
232. 11:05So my brothers and sisters, let Christ
233. 11:08find you. Let him stoop down to you. Let
234. 11:13him bind your wounds. Let him carry you
235. 11:15back to the church.
236. 11:18And then when his mercy has become the
237. 11:20rhythm of your life, it has become so
238. 11:23much of who you are, it has become an
239. 11:26identity, then and only then can you go
240. 11:30and do likewise.
241. 11:32Amen.