Word to the Wise
Monday, October 5, 2009 - Monday in the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
[Jonah 1:1 - 2:1-2, 11 and Luke 10:25-37]But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
There are few parables in the gospels more familiar than the one we call "The Good Samaritan." The dialogue that leads to the parable is important both because it emphasizes that "eternal life" is not simply a matter of a person loving God, but is also a matter of loving neighbor, and it also shows how we humans try to find ways to define "neighbor" to suit our prejudices and conveniences! The ending lines are also important: "Which of these three, in your opinion was neighbor to the robbers' victim?" He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." The emphasis here is on the actions of the unexpected benefactor, a Samaritan, who would not have been expected, culturally, to stop and assist a presumably Jewish victim. However, we need to realize that the victim was "neighbor" to the Samaritan as well, and would be required to do the same thing were it the Samaritan who had been victim! In short, the scholar of the law is being told that the answer to his question is "Everyone!" Scripture scholars remind us that there is a broader context in this parable (perhaps in our day a "global" one) about who is to be included in the community of God's People. That context would require a longer reflection which I will leave to another opportunity. For the moment, wherever we are and with whomever we are, we have neighbors all around us and we all owe one another the mercy shown in the parable. AMEN
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