And Who Is My Neighbor? 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C), July 13, 2025

A doctor of the Law approaches Jesus with a question. How do I gain everlasting life? Jesus bats the question back to him...he's the doctor of the Law after all. The doctor of the law responds with the fundamental commandment to love God...and our neighbor, but presses the issue by asking Jesus then, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus offers him a very challenging parable: "A man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho and along the way he was attacked by robbers..." Who is the true neighbor to this poor fellow, as Jesus tells the story, is a moral and spiritual revolution. Our "neighbor" is not defined by class, color, nationality, religion, or...dare we say it: by those with papers or those without. Few parables of Jesus are as pointed as this one to the contemporary concerns of many about dividing God's sons and daughters into "us" and "thems." 

Homily shared with the Saint Francis Catholic Community in Cuenca, Ecuador.