Homily: July 13, 2025, Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Broken- Healed)

 “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off, leaving him half-dead.” 

A few months ago, one member from Knights of Columbus shared a story of his recent experience with me: It was just before the Easter Vigil mass, he was handing out candles to parishioners coming for the procession. Without noticing it at first, he handed out a candle which was cracked. When he realized it, immediately he apologized, saying, “Sorry, this one is broken.” Without much hesitation, the woman smiled and replied, “Aren’t we all broken?”

So true. We are all broken in some way, none of us have a perfect life. Whether it is emotional, physical, psychological or spiritual, every one of us would have experienced some setback, pain or suffering which were never fully healed, not resolved, not yet gone away. It broke us and stayed on in our lives.

Finally, our own sins and sinfulness are our biggest brokenness. These break through our souls and damage our relationship with God.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the story of a man who fell victim to robbers, left beaten and half-dead. This story shows up the brokenness, in various forms, which exists in our world, in our society, and in ourselves.

The wounded man represents all of us sinners in need of help and mercy. The man was traveling alone, and he made a poor choice to walk from Jerusalem to Jericho. It was a pathway well known to be dangerous especially for the solo traveler, it’s a favorite hunting ground for robbers. This man was obviously inviting trouble for himself.

And don’t we sometimes do the same?

In our spiritual lives, we often make poor choices which we know will put us at risk of committing sin. And knowing well the likely consequences of it, we proceed anyway. And when we finally fall, like the man in the parable, our sin leaves us stripped of our dignity, exposed in shame, and wounded from the fall.

The priest and the Levite who passed by represent the world’s indifference. Oftentimes, society moves ahead so fast, it bypasses the vulnerable and weak, casting them aside to struggle on their own. Sometimes even the religious can miss the call to compassion, preferring to focus on the rites and overlooking the spirit of religion.

But Jesus, the Good Samaritan, does not look away and will not walk away. He stops. He reaches out. He attends to the weak, the wounded. In fact, He is always on the lookout for those in need of His saving help.

He pours oil and wine on the wounds. Oil is for anointing, to heal us. Wine which will become the holy blood of Christ in the Eucharist, to save us. These are the symbols of the sacraments we receive in church.

He then brings the man to an inn, representing the Church, a field hospital for souls, as our late Pope Francis calls it. It is a place of mercy, care, and healing.

Sin leaves us feeling unworthy, distant from God, and overwhelmed by guilt. It makes us feel alone, abandoned, and half-dead.

The world sees us half-dead, and leaves us to die, but Jesus sees us half-alive and brings us to full life. Only Jesus can make us whole. Only Jesus can restore us.

This year is the Jubilee Year of Hope, a time of special graces. And here at St. Ambrose, we are incredibly blessed because this church is one of the designated pilgrimage sites in our diocese where the faithful can receive a plenary indulgence, minimally by receiving the sacrament of reconciliation, spending time in Eucharistic adoration, and doing the recommended prayers.

How many of you have already received this special grace in the past six months?

I am always moved when I see people from small rural parishes across Iowa making pilgrimages to our church, seeking healing, forgiveness, and grace. Let us not take for granted what is so freely available and so easily accessible to us.

We all need healing. We all need mercy. We need to be freed from the imprisonment of sin. We need Jesus, the Good Samaritan.

And Jesus invites us to become good Samaritans ourselves, looking out for others who are broken and wounded, then bringing them to our Lord for healing and restoration.

The devil knows our name but calls us by our sin, but God knows our sin and calls us by our name. Depart from sin that wounds us deeper and turn to God for His saving grace. 

Yes, we are broken, but in the hands of Christ, we can be made whole again.

Amen.