27th Week in Ordinary Time

1st Reading: Jon 1:1—2:1–2, 11
Gospel: Lk 10:25–37
Then a teacher of the Law came and began putting Jesus to the test. And he said, “Master, what shall I do to receive eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What is written in the Scripture? How do you understand it?” The man answered, “It is written: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus replied, “What a good answer! Do this and you shall live.” The man wanted to keep up appearances, so he replied, “Who is my neighbor?”
Jesus then said, “There was a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
It happened that a priest was going along that road and saw the man, but passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite saw the man and passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, too, was going that way, and when he came upon the man, he was moved with compassion. He went over to him and treated his wounds with oil and wine and wrapped them with bandages. Then he put him on his own mount and brought him to an inn where he took care of him.
The next day he had to set off, but he gave two silver coins to the innkeeper and told him: ‘Take care of him and whatever you spend on him, I will repay when I come back.’”
Jesus then asked, “Which of these three, do you think, made himself neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The teacher of the Law answered, “the one who had mercy on him.” And Jesus said, “Go then and do the same.”

Commentary
There are lots of life-lessons for us all in the story of Jonah and the whale. It teaches us about obedience, willingness of spirit, gratitude, compassion and God’s patience and mercy. Jonah confesses that he is running away from God’s will and tells the sailors to throw him overboard to spare their lives. This they do. As Jonah is sinking into the sea, a big fish, a whale, swallows him. Here we see God’s great mercy. He could have let Jonah suffer the consequences of his actions and drown. We often complain to God about the consequences of our sins; but do we ever wonder how often He has spared us from those consequences? Jonah thanked God for saving him and realized the miracle that God had wrought to save him and was truly grateful. This story also shows that miracles still can happen in people’s lives, whenever we share God’s love and compassion with them.

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