SCRIPTURE READINGS TODAY, SUNDAY, JULY 14, 20134, ARE FROM: Deuteronomy 30:10-14; Psalm 69:14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36, 37 or Psalm 19:8-11; Colossians 1:15-20; Luke 10:25-37 There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test him and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” He said in reply, You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.” He replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveller who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn, and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’ Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbour to the robbers’ victim?” He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:25-37) REFLECTION ON THE SAMARITAN The story of the Good Samaritan is one of the most famous stories of world literature and has inspired countless Christians to a life of service to those in need. For instance, in Australia there is one Institute of women religious founded in the nineteenth century that takes the Good Samaritan for its name. Our Lord told the story in explanation of the Old Testament divine command to love. In order to gain eternal life we must love God with all our heart and our neighbour as ourself. Christ subsequently added a new element to this command, that we are to love one another as he loves us. Love for one’s neighbour is a central requirement for salvation. In our Lord’s description of the Last Judgment as narrated in the Gospel of St Matthew (chapter 25), our judgment hinges on how we have treated our neighbour, particularly the one in need. Christ our Judge will regard what we do to the least in need as having been done to himself. In our Gospel today (Luke 10:25‑37), the question directed to our Lord is, who is my neighbour? In effect the question is, exactly who am I to love as myself? Is it the one with whom I have God‑given natural ties and for whom I have natural responsibilities? Our Lord’s answer is, I am to love as myself all who are in need and whom I am able to help. In the story the priest and the Levite pass by the wounded man in need. They are able to help him but they do not. They are breaking God’s fundamental law of love, the observance of which is necessary for salvation. A foreigner and one who is not of their religion comes by and sees the man in need and serves him at personal cost and inconvenience. Our Lord holds up the example of that compassionate Samaritan and says, go and do the same yourself. The question we can go on to ask is, in just what circumstances is the average person to do this? Many interpret our Lord’s teaching in this story as applying to special initiatives we can take for those in need, initiatives that are over and above the ordinary duties of everyday life. For instance, the St Vincent de Paul members walk in the footsteps of the Good Samaritan, visiting persons in material need in their own free time and assisting those who are not otherwise helped by the various institutions of society. Again, parish catechists involve themselves in very important spiritual works of mercy, visiting the state schools in their own free time, teaching children who lack the critically important knowledge of the Catholic Faith. They are Good Samaritans assisting every week considerable numbers of young people in spiritual need. Many other examples of spiritual and corporal works of mercy to those in need could be mentioned that every parish invites all parishioners to consider giving of their time to engage in. However, our Lord’s teaching does not apply only to this kind of loving service to those in need. He is speaking of the love for others that ought permeate our entire life in whatever circumstance we find ourselves and whatever might be our calling or profession. It must be remembered that the characteristic situation of the lay faithful is in the world. He lives in the world of family and work and daily acquaintances, and his life is largely one of service in that context. His life is inextricably bound up with the world and by means of this involvement in the world the Church herself is made present there. It is largely through the lay person that the Church brings Christ into the world. The Church is present in society, in family life, in the myriad forms of daily work, in commerce and in political and legislative action precisely through and in the lay faithful. This means that the lay person in the world must live and act as an instrument of Christ and his Church right there in his daily situation in the world. It means that precisely there he must constantly be a Good Samaritan, whom our Lord says we must imitate. In his family life the lay member of Christ’s Church must be the Good Samaritan serving the one in spiritual or material need. In his daily profession and work he must be the Good Samaritan serving those in need as would Christ. Imagine Christ and his foster‑father Joseph at their daily work and profession in Nazareth all those years. They embodied to a perfect degree the spirit of the Good Samaritan in everyday life. It means taking to heart the needs of the common good in society and doing all possible to ensure that civil and political life and all legislation serve those in need. In God’s plan society itself and all its laws and institutions ought be imbued with the spirit of the Good Samaritan. Christ would say to every country and culture and institution, go and do what the Good Samaritan did. The mission of the lay faithful in Christ’s Catholic Church is so to live and work in family and society that the spirit of the Good Samaritan, which is nothing other than the spirit of Christ himself who became poor that we might be rich, pervades all of life be it personal, social, economic, legal, political, national and international. Christ, having told the parable of the Good Samaritan, says to each of us and to the entire world, Go and do the same yourself. If we and the world neglect to do this, God will judge us and the world accordingly. (E.J.Tyler)
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 16:15:58 +0000
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