Caring for the dead man in the street

Today’s first reading from the book of Tobit (1:3,; 2:1a-8) carries a special resonance today.

In this reading, a fellow believer has been murdered and his body lies in the street of Nineveh. Tobit risks death to bring the man’s body inside so that he might have a decent burial.

Yesterday, within a few miles of that very same place, a Catholic priest and three deacons were murdered in the streets of Mosul. AsiaNews reports the bodies stayed there for hours, because the murderers had booby trapped the clerics’ car so that no one would dare approach.

http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=9443&size=A

(May these dead servants of the Lord Jesus rejoice forever in the light of God.)

There are many things that one might say about this horror: how the Church in Iraq needs help, how the evil of terrorism must be dealt with, and how desperately there needs to be peace in that part of the world.

But while we must give proper consideration to these things, it is perhaps even more important for us as individuals to take to heart the example of Tobit.

As we drive about in our daily lives, are we one of those who come to the aid of people in trouble or do we just give them a morbid stare and pass them by?

Do we let fear of “social death” (rejection by our peers) keep us from doing what we know God wants us to do?

Do we give more thought to our dinner plans than to the faith that nourishes us?

Wherever we may be
and whatever we may be doing,
may we always be ready to listen
to the voice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
to do the good he calls us to do,
to speak the truth he calls us to speak,
and to live the love he gave us to share… even unto death.