Word to the Wise
Sunday, July 11, 2010 - Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
[Deuteronomy 30:10-14; Colossians 1:15-20; Luke 10:25-37]But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
The scholar of the law asks Jesus two questions, but in reality the two questions are the same, but the answers could be different,depending on whether Jesus answers or the scholar answers. The first question is: "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" The second question is: "And who is my neighbor?" The scholar already knows the answer to the first question and recites the two most important commandments of the law - love of God and love of neighbor. However, the second question seems to suggest that the scholar would interpret the second of the two commandments narrowly! "Neighbor" for him might not have included the Samaritan! Jesus' response is what we popularly refer to as the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The term "Good Samaritan" has entered our language as a way of describing anything we do to help someone, especially if we do it unasked. But Jesus' meaning concerns who is worthy of our love and of membership in the kingdom of God. The answer is "everyone." The neighbor is the one who shows mercy, not the one who belongs just to our family or clan or tribe or nation. We cannot exclude anyone from our mercy. The scholar of the law wanted to "justify himself" but Jesus challenges him to open wide the heart of mercy and love. That challenge is ours as well! AMEN
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