GO AND DO THE SAME YOURSELF

XV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 10:25-37

In the gospel of Luke, we can find some of the most beautiful parables. This Sunday, we are told the parable of the Good Samaritan. The parable was told as part of an answer to a lawyer who tried to catch him with a clever question. The man inquired about what he should do to inherit eternal life. Jesus returned the question, telling him: “What is written in the Law? What do you read there?” He was an expert in the Scriptures. He should know the answer. By doing this, Jesus unmasked his intentions. And he answered the way everyone knows: “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself”.

To receive eternal life - that is, to be saved - one must keep the commandments, and the most fundamental commandments include and summarise all other commandments. Our life must be oriented towards God. He is the supreme value in our lives. Without Him, our lives run to self-destruction, sinking into darkness and despair. And we must realise that love of God demands and implies love of our neighbour. What does that mean? Trying to justify himself, the lawyer asked Jesus: “And who is my neighbour?” Maybe our friends or the ones who live nearby! However, Jesus does not speak about those. According to the parable, we must become the neighbour of those we cross paths with and are faced with their suffering.

In the parable, Jesus makes it clear that our love of God is tested in our attitude towards the suffering ones we meet along the way. The priest and the Levite were men of God coming from fulfilling their duties in the Temple. Certainly, they were in good standing before the community, but they ignored the man in need who robbers had attacked. Their love of God was found wanting. Failing their neighbour, they failed God.

Jesus is the Good Samaritan, who carries our sins and heals our wounds. At the same time, he identifies with the injured man. Ignoring the dying man, they ignored Christ. Our entrance into the Kingdom of God will depend on our compassion and mercy for the suffering ones.