First Reading - Galatians 1:6-12
Gospel - Luke 10:25-37
In the first reading, St. Paul is deeply concerned because the Galatians are turning away from the Gospel he preached to them. He says, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and turning to a different gospel.”
For Paul, the Gospel is not simply one message among many. It is the truth received from Christ. Therefore, he refuses to change it simply to please people. He says that his task is not to seek human approval but to remain faithful to Christ.
The Gospel today shows us what this faithfulness looks like in practical life.
A lawyer approaches Jesus and asks, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus leads him back to the heart of the Law: love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and love your neighbour as yourself.
The lawyer then asks another question: “And who is my neighbour?”
Jesus responds with the parable of the Good Samaritan.
A man is attacked by robbers and left half dead. A priest sees him and passes by. A Levite sees him and also passes by. But a Samaritan, someone whom the Jewish people would normally regard with suspicion, stops, approaches him, treats his wounds, carries him to an inn, and pays for his care.
At the end, Jesus does not ask the lawyer, “Who qualifies as your neighbour?” Instead, he asks, “Which of these three was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”
That changes the whole question.
The lawyer wanted to define the limits of his responsibility: “Who is my neighbour?” Jesus teaches him to ask instead: “How can I become a neighbour?”
This is where the two readings come together. Paul insists on the authentic Gospel, and Jesus shows us that the authentic Gospel becomes concrete love.
It is possible to defend the truth of the Gospel and still fail to live its heart. We can be very concerned about correct doctrine, religious practices, rules, and traditions, but the Gospel must ultimately produce love, mercy, and compassion.
The priest and the Levite may have known the Law. They may have had religious responsibilities. But knowledge alone did not make them neighbours to the wounded man. The Samaritan, however, allowed compassion to interrupt his journey.
Perhaps this is the challenge for us today. There are many wounded people around us: someone who is lonely, someone who has been rejected, someone struggling with failure, someone who needs forgiveness, someone who simply needs another person to stop and listen.
The question is not whether they belong to my group, my community, my culture, or my circle of friends. The question is: Can I become a neighbour to them?
Paul reminds us not to replace the Gospel with something else. Jesus reminds us what the Gospel looks like when it takes flesh in our lives: it looks like a person who stops, sees, approaches, touches the wound, and helps.
Today, therefore, let us not be satisfied with knowing the Gospel. Let us allow the Gospel to change our hearts. Let our faith become compassion, our prayer become service, and our love for God become visible in the way we treat the person who is lying on the roadside of life.
The authentic Gospel is not merely something we proclaim with our lips. It is something we become through love.
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