July 11, Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live. — Psalm 69:(see 3)

Mass Readings: Deuteronomy 30:10-14 / Colossians 1:15-20 / Luke 10:25-37 

Two Compassionate Rabbis 

Hillel was a compassionate rabbi who taught in Jerusalem and died 10 or 15 years after the birth of Jesus. A Gentile once went to a less compassionate rabbi and asked him to summarize the Torah, or the Law, while the Gentile was standing on one leg. That rabbi got angry at such presumption and drove the man away with a stick. Then the Gentile approached Hillel with the same question. Hillel answered, “What is hateful to you, do not do to others. This is the whole Law, the rest is commentary. Go and learn it.” The Gentile became a convert.

 Does Hillel’s response sound familiar? In today’s Gospel Jesus agreed with the scholar who interpreted the Law as telling us to love God, and our neighbor as ourselves. The rest, so to speak, is commentary. 

Prayer: Compassionate Jesus, teach us what is truly important to gain eternal life.