Feria Quinta infra Hebdomadam XII post Octavam Pentecostes
V. Augusti
Readings:
– Epistle: 2 Corinthians 3:4-9
– Gospel: Luke 10:23-37
“The letter killeth, but the spirit quickeneth.”
— 2 Corinthians 3:6
“Which of these three, in thy opinion, was neighbor to him that fell among the robbers?”
— Luke 10:36
✠ Introduction
As we walk through the liturgical calendar in this quiet, contemplative season after Pentecost, Holy Mother Church sets before us today two powerful texts: St. Paul’s contrast between the old and new covenants, and Our Lord’s parable of the Good Samaritan. Read together in the light of Feria Quinta infra Hebdomadam XII post Octavam Pentecostes, these readings unfold the mystery of divine mercy that transforms the stony tablets of the Law into the living hearts of grace-filled Christians.
✠ The Ministry of the Spirit: Life Beyond the Letter (2 Cor. 3:4–9)
St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, draws a bold comparison between the Mosaic covenant and the new dispensation in Christ. He calls the former “the ministration of death,” not out of disrespect, but in awe of the surpassing glory of the Gospel.
As St. Augustine observes:
“The Law was given that grace might be sought; grace was given that the Law might be fulfilled.”
(De Spiritu et Littera, 19)
Paul is not denigrating the Law of Moses, but revealing its preparatory nature. The Law was glorious in its time, etched in stone and delivered amidst thunder. Yet, it lacked the power to effect what it commanded. It revealed sin but could not heal it.
As St. John Chrysostom teaches:
“The Law showed what ought to be done, but did not give strength to do it… Grace gives both commandment and power.”
(Homilies on 2 Corinthians, Hom. 7)
Hence, the apostle’s phrase: “The letter killeth, but the spirit quickeneth.” It is not the content of the Law that kills, but the inability of fallen man to fulfill it without grace. The “spirit” — the Holy Ghost poured forth at Pentecost — animates the soul, writing the law of God on the heart (cf. Jer. 31:33), making us not merely hearers of the law but doers, no longer slaves, but sons.
This “ministration of the spirit” is the very life of the Church, manifested supremely in her sacraments, especially Baptism and the Holy Eucharist, which impart not only teaching but transforming grace.
✠ The Samaritan and the Spirit of the Law (Luke 10:23–37)
The Gospel provides the perfect living illustration of Paul’s teaching. A lawyer, steeped in the letter of the Law, asks Jesus: “What shall I do to possess eternal life?” The Lord turns the question back: What is written in the Law? The man answers rightly — love God and neighbor — but seeks to limit his obligation with a legalistic question: “And who is my neighbor?”
In response, Our Lord gives the parable of the Good Samaritan. This is not merely a moral tale — it is a mystical image of Christ’s own merciful mission.
St. Ambrose interprets it thus:
“The man who was going down is Adam… Jerusalem is Paradise, and Jericho is the world. The robbers are the hostile powers. The priest is the Law, the Levite is the Prophets, and the Samaritan is Christ.”
(Expositio Evangelii secundum Lucam, 7.73)
The priest and the Levite — ministers of the letter — pass by. They may not wish to incur ritual impurity, or perhaps they simply lack compassion. Their ministries, though holy, are powerless to heal the wounded man. Only the Samaritan — a figure scorned by the Jews and thus a fitting image of Christ, “despised and the most abject of men” (Isa. 53:3) — bends down in mercy.
The Fathers saw in the Samaritan’s actions the ministry of the New Covenant:
- The oil and wine are the sacraments — oil for healing (Confirmation, Unction), wine for cleansing (the Blood of Christ).
- The beast is the flesh Christ assumed, bearing our burdens.
- The inn is the Church, where souls are healed and nurtured.
- The innkeeper is the apostles and their successors, entrusted with the care of souls until the Lord returns.
Here, then, is mercy in action — not an abstract principle, but an incarnate reality. It is not the observance of ritual or strict interpretation of the Law that brings life, but the inward transformation wrought by divine charity.
St. Gregory the Great thus exhorts:
“Let him who has the substance of this world and sees his brother in need be moved with compassion. For the Samaritan’s oil and wine will profit nothing unless there be love in the heart.”
(Hom. in Evangelia, 34)
✠ Living the Mercy of the Spirit
On this feria, as we live in the aftermath of Pentecost — the season of the Church’s flowering — we are reminded that the law has found its fulfillment in mercy. Not a vague sentimentalism, but that living mercy which flows from the Sacred Heart of Jesus, active in the Church through the Holy Ghost.
Let us ask:
- Am I living by the letter, or by the Spirit?
- Do I recognize the wounded Christ in my neighbor?
- Am I willing to be a Samaritan, even when the world esteems me foolish?
Let us recall the collect of this week (12th Sunday after Pentecost), asking God for the grace to “both think and do always such things as are rightful.” It is not enough to know the Law; we must be made new by the Spirit, and moved by love.
✠ Prayer for Today
O Lord Jesus Christ, Good Samaritan of our souls, grant us the grace to walk not by the letter that kills, but by the Spirit that gives life. May we love Thee with all our heart and see Thee in our wounded neighbor. Heal us, bear us, and bring us to the inn of Thy Church, where we may be made whole until the day of Thy return. Amen.