13/07/2025

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Who is my neighbour?”

According to the Bible, as we read in this powerful parable of the Good Samaritan, our neighbour is anyone in need whom we encounter; essentially, anyone we have the opportunity to help.

Loving our neighbour means we must be willing to sacrifice our own time, money, and convenience for the betterment of the poor, helpless, and oppressed. If we are going to love our neighbour as ourselves, we need to get out our pocketbooks, get our hands dirty, and sacrifice some of the comforts of our  life to meet the real needs of our urban, poor, or minority neighbours. 

If you have enough cash for your own needs, it may be worthwhile setting up a charity account into which, every month, you insert some funds.

As St James writes in his epistle, “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” (James 2:15–16) 

In other words, Christians are invited – even commanded - to do more for their neighbour than offer cheap talk and well wishes. Actions speak louder – have greater practical impact – than words.

Prioritise. Our duty to look after our own life comes first. We have to be realistic. Humble. We are not God. Too many priests I have known, forgetting to look after themselves, ended up with nervous breakdown - forcing others to take on their duties. Then our family. Then those in our community. Then, if we have surplus finances, the  world ’out there’.

I believe we are put on earth to help God improve it for all those who are in our orbit. That, for me, includes you. Thank God.