True Worship

Gospel: Luke 10: 25-37

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus does not openly condemn the priest and Levite for their failure to help the dying man, who would have been a fellow Jew as he had been journeying from Jerusalem.  It is likely that both men did not stop to help in order to remain ritually pure so that they might perform their proper tasks of worship in the Temple.  In their minds, the greatest commandment to love God would not be able to be performed if they stopped to help this man.

And yet this story begins with the question: what must I do to gain eternal life?  And it ends with the question: which one was neighbor to the one in need? It is then followed by the exhortation: go and do likewise.  Temple worship is not unimportant, but it is secondary to our primary task of caring for others - in healing, liberating, and nourishing other people in need.  That is the way we love God, and that is the way to eternal life.

Temple worship is important for us.  It provides us with the spiritual help we need in order to fulfill the primary work of care for others.  However, our primary worship, the main we in which we show love for God is in loving others, in undertaking the works of mercy for those in need.  This was the mission of Jesus, the mission to which he calls us to continue in our lives.