Annual Mass of the Holy Spirit brought student body, faculty and staff to the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist on Sept. 1
?Whose neighbor are you willing to be??
That was the question posed by Auxiliary Bishop emeritus Roger Gries to those attending St. Ignatius High School?s annual Mass of the Holy Spirit on Sept. 1 at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.
The cathedral overflowed with 1,500 students in khaki pants, shirts, ties and blue blazers -- plus faculty and staff -- for the traditional liturgy that is celebrated by Jesuit schools worldwide at the beginning of each school year.
In his homily, Bishop Gries reflected on how a man had asked Jesus who his neighbor was and who he had to love.
?Jesus didn?t give him the answer he was looking for. He turned things around,? Bishop Gries said, pointing out how Jesus related the parable of the Good Samaritan, which was the Gospel at that liturgy.
In that parable, a priest and a Levite passed by a robbery victim who had been beaten and left on the road ?because they convinced themselves that he wasn?t worthy of their aid. Yet the Samaritan, a stranger, dressed his wounds, placed the man on his animal and took him to an inn for care,? Bishop Gries said. The others found a loophole that allowed them to ignore the robbery victim, he said.
We should mirror the Samaritan?s actions, Bishop Gries said, explaining that being a good neighbor means more than just living next to someone.
?A neighbor is anybody and everybody,? he said, adding that God expects us to love our neighbors, not in the romantic sense, but with ?active good will. It is the law of God that we treat everyone with good will.?
He said any decent human being, like the Samaritan, is moved with pity and touched by the suffering of another person. ?But being moved by pity isn?t enough; action is required,? he added.
Bishop Gries said that being a good neighbor also goes beyond the bounds of religion, class and other circumstances. ?We need to meet human need where it is. So the question is, whose neighbor are you? The challenge is not to find out who my neighbor is, but who can I be a neighbor to?