Brotherly Love Sunday

Today’s Scriptures invite us to a slower, truer way of living to receive eternal life by loving God  as he comes to us in our neighbor. Not in theory, but in the ordinary faces and interruptions of  our day. 

The First Reading from the Prophet Jeremiah talks about a transformative relationship where  God’s law moves from external rules to an interior compass, written on the heart. Most hope filled is the assurance of mercy: forgiveness so complete that past sins are no longer  remembered, opening the way to genuine renewal. 

In the Second Reading Saint John grounds Christian confidence not in self-assurance but in the  fearless freedom that comes from being loved first by God. Perfect love invites us to live as  Christ did in this world - with courage, mercy, and openness. The true measure of such love is  concrete: if we claim to love God, we must actively love the brother or sister before us. 

In the Gospel, Jesus answers a scholar’s question with a story. The road from Jerusalem to  Jericho runs through our homes, our parish, our classrooms, and our workplaces. Someone  along that road has been stripped or left on the side by criticism, neglect, loneliness, illness,  worry, or shame. The question becomes personal and real: Will I cross the road today? 

For our prayer: 

• Whom did I pass by this week, at home, at church, at work, because I was busy, tired, or  unsure what to say? 

• Who has been a Good Samaritan to me? What grace did I receive when I let myself be  helped? 

• Where do I draw a boundary around “neighbor”? Around whom do I tighten my heart? • What oil and wine do I carry: what gifts, time, listening, skills that could tend a wound  nearby? 

Ask the Lord to show you one person who is “by the roadside” in your life. Choose one concrete step: a call, a visit, an apology, an invitation, a ride, a meal, a prayer you  promise and actually pray. 

May we also allow ourselves to be found. Sometimes pride, or fear, keeps us from being  touched. The Lord may come to us through the very person we have avoided. 

Prayer 

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on us. 

Melt what is hard, heal what is wounded, 

mold our habits and our pace,

fill our eyes with the face of Christ in our neighbors, 

and use our hands to pour oil and wine where there is hurt. 

Let no one be untouchable among us, 

and no one left outside the boundaries of compassion. 

Teach us to love one another as Jesus has loved us, 

until the road between us becomes a place of mercy and life. 

Amen.