Dt. 30: 10-14; Ps. 69: 14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36-37; Col. 1: 15-20; Lk. 10: 25-37

“…written in the book of the law”–The word “law” sets to mind a set of rules commanded and enforced by a controlling authority.  It is the first of several definitions but the most common understanding of the word.  Christ Jesus is the word of authority made flesh.  He is the antithesis of a controlling authority set by law to enforce rules.  The law is commanded by “being” a creation of God, a natural law “already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out”.  The controlling authority is our free will responding to the law within.  When we were born God gave us a gift.  It is the gift of self.  We fulfill the law through our free will. 

The “firstborn of all creation” came to rule by love, “the image of the invisible God.”  Jesus is God with us.  The bracelets that were popular for a while had the letters “WWJD” What Would Jesus Do.  We follow as Christians the will of God through Jesus.  We are called to be a visible image of the invisible God. 

The natural law of love is in our hearts, we have only to carry it out.  If love is in our nature one would think we are all great lovers of God and neighbor.  We have only to look at the world to see something went wrong.  Why is there so much evil then?  We can also ask ourselves “where is the peace and love in my life?”  What is missing?  Missing is uniting our will to the will of God.  The natural law of love is given at birth then the enemy of love comes.

Love is visible in an infant ready to respond to an act of love.  An infant is totally dependent on love to thrive.  Food and water alone are not sufficient nurturing for a child to thrive.  A child responds to two hearts of love beating in the womb, the child’s and its mother’s heart.  You are a child of God.  The heart of Jesus unites to our hearts in the Eucharist.  We are all the child in need of the mercy of God’s love. 

We are the victim on the street stripped of love.  We have been robbed of our innocence and purity when we are exposed to all the sins of the world seeking our weakness to cause our own fall from grace.  Who can resist the lure of the wolf in sheep’s clothing dressed in white and gentle to the touch?  Inside ready to be poured out is the trauma of a tragedy ready to happen. If we only understood the natural law of “consequence” we would seek first the will of God. 

Every act will have a just reward or punishment by consequence of natural law.  It may not only impact the person but generations to come.  The aborted child, the child raised by adoption, the sinner who turns their life around and uses that past to help others in the future has consequence.  One decision impacts a world of people.  The unknown is whether we will respond with “yes” to God or not. 

Love begets love and evil begets greater evil.  Those intoxicated with evil in any of its form sins against their own flesh and the outcome is but certain death.  It is death to self, to our identity as a child of God, to natural beauty and goodness.  In the end it is death to love, the essence of life left on the street of abandonment. 

Before we judge “not me, I have what I need” let us ask ourself “how well am I at loving?”  Am I one to show mercy when I am offended and hurt or when I see the less fortunate?  Is my love connected to them or only for myself and my select few?  Our capacity to love is our capacity to experience God and his mercy.  Our incapacity to love is our sense of abandonment from God’s mercy and love.  God is present yet without mercy we are isolated on “skid row” with poverty from love.  Life becomes a poverty without peace.

The command “Go and do likewise” is the assertion of truth.  It is not imposed on humanity it is what makes for humanity in God’s image.  This is what holds us together, the unity of the church with Jesus as our head to be Christian.  By nature, I am an introvert.  Introverts make the minority of the population 1:3 ratio introverts to extraverts.  Give me a book and a comfortable chair and I am detached from the world.  I would drive my mother crazy growing up because I buried my head in a book and people I avoided.  She would say, “I just want to hear you talk.”  If she could see me now standing before you preaching, maybe she is (after death).  God works miracles and has a sense of humor at it. 

Love is about attachment.  “Go and do likewise” is not easy and I must work at creating attachment, especially with the stranger.  There are some people who “never met a stranger” in the sense their interests in people moved them to reach out to others.  God bless them.  You may be like me or more of an extrovert yet both are commanded by love to reach out.  Love is transformative and it will change you as much as you allow to be that change agent in others. 

Christ is “the firstborn of the dead”.  He did not rise as a spirit but in body and spirit.  St. Thomas felt with his hands the wounds of Jesus and the disciples ate fish with him on the seashore.  He made himself present in the body.  We are to prepare our bodies for the resurrection.  Jesus carried the scars of the sins of others hate but we will carry the scars of our own sin as a sign of our redemption in Christ.  Now is the time to heal those scars before death and regain the purity of our bodies and souls. 

Before death as in after death our bodies and souls are our nature to live out in the image of the first born of creation, Jesus Christ!  “Go and do likewise”.