We generally think that our neighbor is somebody out there and not inside our own homes. But as Mother Teresa said, “The poor you may have right in your own family. Find them. Love them. We must make our homes centers of compassion and forgive endlessly.” Lord, please remind me whenever I forget that my family is also my neighbor. Help me to strike a balance between my ministries and my service to my family. We celebrate today the Feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary. Originally instituted to celebrate the victory of the Christians over the Turks at Lepanto in Greece, it serves as a reminder that intercessory prayer, particularly that of Mary, is powerful and can change the course of world events. Let us resolve to never give up, no matter how hopeless our good cause may seem to be. Ask any man on the street what neighbor means and you will surely get something like: someone who lives nearby; a person or thing situated near another; someone who is good to another; a short distance; etc. What is common to all these definitions? They are all nouns. Today, in the parable of the good Samaritan, Jesus reminds us that neighbor is not so much a noun as it is a verb. In reply to the question of the lawyer, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus narrates a story of a man who was robbed and left for dead by the roadside. Many neighbors passed by, i.e., they walked near him. Finally, a Samaritan, considered an outsider during Jesus’ time and therefore someone who is not near but far off, stopped and cared for the man and took care of him even beyond the call of charitable expectations. As far as Jesus is concerned, neighbor is not a noun. It is a verb, an action word, something we do that gives flesh to our verbal professions of friendship, closeness and nearness. Fr. Joel O. Jason
Posted on: Mon, 07 Oct 2013 07:47:28 +0000
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