💖 HOMILY - OCTOBER 6 💖

First Reading - Jonah 1:1-2:1,11

Gospel - Luke 10:25-37

Have you ever had a moment when God was clearly calling you to do something — to forgive someone, to reach out, to make a change — and you tried to run the other way? Many of us know that struggle: knowing what’s right, but hesitating because it’s inconvenient, uncomfortable, or costly. Today’s readings remind us that when God calls, He calls not just for obedience, but for transformation — both ours and others’.

In the first reading, we meet Jonah, a prophet who runs away from God’s mission. God asks him to go to Nineveh, a city known for its sin, to call its people to repentance. But Jonah refuses. He boards a ship going in the opposite direction, hoping to escape God’s command. Yet even in Jonah’s disobedience, God doesn’t abandon him. Through the storm and the great fish, God leads Jonah to a place of repentance and renewal. When Jonah finally obeys, God uses him as an instrument of mercy — not destruction. The story shows us that God’s plans always aim toward salvation, not punishment. He never gives up on us, even when we resist Him.

In the Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan — a story that perfectly illustrates what it means to obey God’s call with love. A man is beaten and left for dead on the road. Two religious men — a priest and a Levite — see him but pass by. Then comes a Samaritan, a man despised by the Jews, who stops, tends to the wounded man, and goes out of his way to ensure his care. Jesus ends with the powerful command: “Go and do likewise.”

Dear friends, God’s call always leads us toward mercy. Jonah learned that mercy isn’t just for others — it’s also for us when we turn back to God. The Samaritan reminds us that mercy must be lived, not just preached. It means crossing boundaries, interrupting our routines, and choosing compassion even when it’s inconvenient.

We all meet “the wounded” along our road — people hurting emotionally, spiritually, or physically. Sometimes it’s a neighbor, a co-worker, or even someone in our own family. The question is: do we, like Jonah, try to avoid God’s call to act, or do we, like the Samaritan, respond with compassion and courage?

The world doesn’t need more people who just know what is right — it needs people who do what is right, who love boldly and act mercifully. God is calling each of us today — maybe not to Nineveh, but certainly to someone in need of His love through us.

So let us stop running and start responding. Let us be people of mercy, people of compassion, people who make God’s love visible on the road of everyday life. When we “go and do likewise,” we not only help others rise from their pain — we, too, are lifted closer to the heart of God.