In today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus telling the dramatic story of the Good Samaritan in response to a question asked by a lawyer from the Jewish community. It is obvious that the lawyer wanted to understand how to apply God’s great commandment of "love of neighbor" to his own everyday life. In so many words this man is asking Jesus: “I want to love God. I want to love my neighbor as well. I want to do it as best I can. But how do I know that I am fulfilling my duty to love my neighbor properly?"
To the lawyer, the law of love was plain and simple: “Treat your neighbor as you would like to be treated yourself”. But he would have understood neighbor to mean only those who belonged to the same covenant relationship with God to which he belonged; those of his own chosen people. Up to a certain point, Jesus agreed with the lawyer, but at the same time, he challenged him to expand his view, to see that God’s view of neighbor went far beyond his own narrow definition.
So Jesus tells this story to show how wide God’s love is and how merciful God is towards every human being. The story centers around a brutal robbery that took place on the road between Jerusalem to Jericho. This road went through a narrow winding valley surrounded by steep rocky cliffs. It was a dangerous place and notorious for its robbers who could easily ambush their victim and escape into the hills. The dangers of travelling on this section of road would have been well known to Jesus’ listeners.
To make his point, Jesus examines the behavior of three people travelling that road: a priest, a Levite and a Samaritan. So why did the religious leaders refuse to give any help when they saw a half dead victim lying by the roadside?
The priest probably didn’t want to risk the possibility of ritual impurity which would have prevented him from worshiping in the temple that day. His piety got in the way of charity. The Levite approached close to the victim, but stopped short of actually helping him. Perhaps he feared that bandits were using this person as decoy to ambush him. The Levite put personal safety ahead of saving his neighbor. And then we hear about a Samaritan, an outsider, one who would have been despised by the Jewish community, stopping to treat this victim with special care at his own expense. He cared for the person as he would a member of his own family. From this, we are confronted with the real question, a question that would challenge the status conscious lawyer. Who is the one who is fulfilling the commandment of love to neighbor?
And of course, we know that Jesus makes the one who was moved with compassion, who acted out of mercy as the one who is truly fulfilling God’s rule of love.
What does Jesus’ story tell us about true love for one’s neighbor? First, we must be willing to help even if others brought trouble on themselves through their own fault or negligence. The Samaritan had nothing to do with this robbery, or the risk this man took by travelling this dangerous piece of road by himself. Yet he was drawn to compassion by his plight, and responded with mercy. Second, our love and concern to help others in need must be practical. Good intentions and showing pity, or empathizing with others are not enough. And lastly, and most challenging, our love for others must be as wide and as inclusive as God’s love is for us. God excludes no one from his care and concern. God’s love is unconditional. In imitating God, we also must be ready to do good to all others for their sake, just as God is good to us for our sake. And we must do this without regard to race, political beliefs, age or past history. We are encouraged to live this love each day with compassion and mercy towards all who are in need, and to all whom we meet.
Jesus not only taught God’s way of love, but he showed it, through his own life, how far God is willing to go to share in our suffering and to restore us to wholeness.
Jesus considers each of us to be his neighbor. And He fulfills the commandment of love by overcoming our sin, through his own suffering, death and victory on the cross. In that great act of love, Jesus’ death brought us to freedom from slavery to sin and the promise of everlasting life with God.
True compassion not only identifies and empathizes with the one who is in pain, but takes that pain onto oneself in order to bring that freedom and restoration to the neighbor in need.
A few years ago, Pope John 11 said the following: "The parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us what the relationship of each of us must be towards the suffering neighbor. We are not allowed to “pass” by on the other side indifferently; we must “stop” beside him. Everyone who “stops” beside the suffering of another person, whatever form it may take, is a Good Samaritan."
Our compassion and love should move us to do whatever we can in whatever situation we find ourselves in. These acts of compassion need not be large. Many times all it takes is a smile, a word of encouragement, most importantly a willingness to listen.
As I was preparing this homily, something that became apparent to me is that I also must fulfill this commandment of love of neighbor with myself. As I am able to see more clearly God’s expansive view of love for me, I am also able to see how often I fail in loving my neighbor properly. I am able to see the many times I have not stopped. I am able to see the many times I may have been empathetic, but failed to act. I am able to see the many time I have used personal inconvenience as an excuse for doing nothing. But because I know that God sees me as his neighbor, in need of help, in need of His mercy, I also know that I am loved, I am forgiven. And I am learning. And church is about us learning together how to love our neighbor.
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