FIFTEENTH SUNDAY: CHRISTIANS... CALLED TO BE PEOPLE WITHOUT BORDERS! readings: deuteronomy 30:10-14; Colossians 1:15-20; luke 10:25-37 usccb.org/bible/readings/071413.cfm in july 2003, the successful heart operation on two-and-a-half year old noor fatima, a child from pakistan, made international headlines. it put the spotlight on dr devi shetty and narayana hrudayalaya… a super-speciality hospital he founded in 2001 on the outskirts of bangalore. patients come from 70 countries; there are at least three or four children from bangladesh every day, at least one child a week from pakistan, and patients from african countries like tanzania and zambia. dr shetty and his team at narayana hrudayalaya are truly «doctors without borders»! he says: «pain has no language… reaction to pain and suffering is the same, so our reaction to the problem is also the same.» in essence, through the parable of the good samaritan, this is what JESUS tells the scholar of the law who asked him: «who is my neighbour?» love knows no boundaries; love reaches out to anyone in need… it doesn’t walk on by. it stops to help; it gets involved, regardless of who the person is. this is exactly what the unlikely hero of JESUS’ story does. the samaritan goes beyond the boundaries of religion and nationality; he reaches out to the wounded man in need. he stops to help and gets involved in the life of the «man». it struck me that JESUS gives the «neighbour» no name, no nationality, no religion… in times of need, these are totally irrelevant. further, he reverses the question. what is important is not who my neighbour is, but to whom am i a neighbour, to whom do i reach out! how do we respond to people in need? are we moved with compassion and reach out to help… or do we walk on pretending they don’t exist? in an era when we are building «gated communities» with religious, ethnic and racial, social and economic walls, JESUS challenges me to live the commandment of love by going beyond all boundaries… and to build his kingdom as a neighbourhood without borders.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 15:15:28 +0000
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