Ukrainian Catholic ChurchAustralia, New Zealand and Oceania
Homily by Fr. Andriy Mykytyuk on the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
November 18, 2023
How often can we sit down, open the Bible, look at these lines and listen to what the Lord speaks to us? Through His Words, through the example of other people — He shows us the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. But do we use these “tools” to ask for this road?
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Beloved, this Sunday we hear the Gospel in which Christ speaks to us in the parable “About the Good Samaritan”. But I want to draw our attention not to the parable itself, but to the dialogue that preceded it.
A young man came and asked a very important question: “What must be done in order to reach the Kingdom of Heaven”? I think this is important for us. How often do we ask ourselves what to do to reach the Kingdom of Heaven?
We are Christians, we want to live with God, we want to live in Heaven. I think if you ask each of us where we want to spend eternity, everyone will choose Paradise. But… what do we do in order to grasp this Paradise? Christ came, became one of us. Christ died on the cross and rose again and opened the door to Paradise for us, and invites us to enter there. But we need to enter. In other words, something needs to be done. So do we ask ourselves and do we know what we are doing to enter there. To make a choice and say yes to God’s invitation.
But the Lord answers the young man with a question. He says: “what is written in the law? How do you read?” And this is important to us again. Because we sometimes say that we don’t know or understand something. But are we using what we have to grasp the answers? Do we read the Law? Do we read the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures? Do we, Christians of the 21 st century, who want to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, read the Holy Scriptures? And how often?
How often can we sit down, open the Bible, look at these lines and listen to what the Lord speaks to us? Through His Words, through the example of other people — He shows us the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. But do we use these “tools” to ask for this road? Do we pray? How often do we pray to hear God’s will and ask Him to guide us on this path? Do we go to the Church and together, as a community, walk this road to the Heavenly Kingdom, supporting each other? Christ gives us “tools”, gives us a map, signposts to guide us to the goal. But do we use all this?
The young man answers that one must love God and one’s neighbor. He knew. Do we know? (We have many questions today. But…) Do we know the 10 Commandments of God by heart? Do we know the Works of Mercy for the body by heart? Do we know the Works of Mercy for souls by heart? Because if we don’t know, then how can we fulfill them in our life? We can not…
Today I want to draw our attention not so much to the parable of the Good Samaritan and the importance of being merciful as our Father is merciful, but to how often we open the Holy Scriptures, to what knowledge we have about God and the way to His Heavenly Kingdom in our minds and in our hearts.
Therefore, I wish that our knowledge never stops, but always increases. That our faith, our relationship with God, grow every day. That we go along this road knowing where we are going, seeing the direction, and asking God for the strength and wisdom to be merciful and do what He does. To love God and to love our neighbors.
