Sunday, July 10, 2016

Good Samaritans, The Right To Life, Dallas (2016-07-10)

15th Sunday, Year C

TITLE: “Good Samaritan. Right to Life. 1776-2016-Beyond”

Deuteronomy  30:10-14 ●   Psalm 69 or 19   ●  Colossians 1:15-20 ● +Luke  10:25-37

[_01_]  When I was about 17 years old, my classmate, Mike, drove me home from high school on one particularly memorable day. We were driving in his new 1980-something 5.0 liter engine Ford Mustang sports car, 5-speed manual transmission.
This car could fly.
Mike was eager to show me and any other passenger the speed the handling and his daring and expertise at the steering wheel.
This daring included high speeds of well over 50 miles per hour on suburban streets where the speed limit was 25.  He had a radar detector, thinking he would not be caught.

One afternoon, we pulled up to my parents’ house. It seemed that another high-speed thrill ride was over. I was home, exiting the car.
Someone was approaching the car from the rear. Mike would not be going directly home that day.
This  time, the police were involved. Not just any police officer. This was the town chief of police himself who had been following us for about a mile or so.

[_02_]   I’m not sure that any speeding ticket was issued.
          What happened? I found out the next day. Mike was required to drive and report directly to police headquarters. He told me that the chief spoke to him about the dangers of high speed driving, and showed up photos, images, statistics. I think it took at least an hour.

[_03_]   Though I was only a witness to the CRIME, and not a witness to the PUNISHMENT, this driver’s-education lesson [lesson in driver’s education] made an impression on me as well.
          It made an impression that – with or without a Ford Mustang – I should be careful behind the wheel.
          Also, the police officer – the police chief – made an impression. I took note of the time he took for one speeding violation, one sports car, one driver, one teenager, one person.
          Or, rather, he knew that if he took the time for his one seventeen-year-old driver, he could save and protect the lives of many.
          Isn’t this one what police officers do each day?

[* * * P A U S E * * * ]

[_04_]   As we celebrate this month, the July 4, 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence, we recall the 3 alienable rights for which our nation was founded –
·        The right to life
·        The right to liberty
·        The right to the pursuit of happiness

In this reflection, I would like to connect this civil and American right to life – and this human right – with the Gospel call to obedience and to service.

[_05_]  The Gospel call to obedience and service was certainly manifested in the life of the Good Samaritan today. It is also manifested as one of the 3 evangelical counsels – the other 2 being chastity and poverty.

 [à  [   Obedience is, perhaps, very unpopular in the summer, for summer vacation, summer freedom.
          Moreover, does it not seem that the 1776 Declaration of Independence was written by and War of Independence was fought by those who “disobeyed”? 
          Have not great movements in our country been achieved through actions of protest and civil disobedience?
          Recently, about a month ago, the recollections and encomiums by Billy Crystal, by former President Bill Clinton and others at the funeral of Muhammad Ali recalled the boxer’s, the athlete’s, the champion’s own actions of civil disobedience, at great personal cost.
          Obedience is sometimes perceived by us as infringement on our personal freedom, our personal schedule, our “life”.
          Is “disobedience” the only way to be free?
          In the book of the prophet Isaiah we read that the prophet brings freedom to others by his service, his sacrifice, his obedience…

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance for our God; to comfort all who mourn.” (Isaiah 61:1-2)

          Yes, we can also help to bring freedom and comfort to others – in the spirit of the Good Samaritan. We can do our part, trusting that the spirit of God is working through us.
          I would like to suggest, however, that true obedience – to God’s word invites us to be free, because we are called to protect not only our own lives, but the lives of others.

Also, we trust in God’s mercy and justice for all the afflicted and affected.
  

[* * * P A U S E * * * ]

         

[_06_]   After the events of Thursday July 7, we mourn as a country for the slain officers the police officers from whom life was taken in an act of revenge.
          Of course, the hundreds of police officers present were doing their sworn duty to protect our right to life, to protect the right of protestors to be in public.
          Yes, in this country, we have a right to protest, even to be civilly disobedient. God Bless America.
          We have a right to be protected by police officers against whom we might wish to protest.
         
[_07_]  The right to life implies protection not only for those whom we know. The right to life implies protection for the person not yet born, the person we have never met, the person who is unable to communicate.
          Every member of the the Dallas Police Department, the West Orange Police Department, the NYPD New York Police Department, vows to protect the lives of people he or she does not know.

[_08_]     Obedience, conformity to the right to life, to liberty and the pursuit of happiness are difficulty.

          Such sacrifice and service are the work today of Good Samaritans, both in in uniform and undercover, those who protect our lives, those who believe ALL LIVES MATTER is not a message to be forwarded but a message to be received each day anew.
          This was the message and work of the 5 Dallas police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty, of the 7 injured and all who serve.
It is our work also, that we are called to treat others with mercy, with respect to protect the right to life, to go and do likewise.   [_fin_]       

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