XV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 10:25-37
Nowadays, many people despise God’s commandments and consider them oppressive, denying us what we most desire: happiness. However, we are misguided in this attitude, which comes from the misconception of confusing happiness with material well-being and pleasure. Moses had a different conception of life and, being convinced that God’s word is the true guide to happiness, he advised his people to listen to the voice of God and to accept his commandments. If we pay attention and listen to God’s voice whispering in our hearts, we will know God’s way, which is the true way to a meaningful life. God has put within us his commandments so that we are able to discern between good and evil and then have the strength to choose good and reject evil. Indeed, “the Word is very near to you, it is in your mouth and in your heart for your observance” (Dt 30:14).
In this Sunday’s gospel, we read the parable of the Good Samaritan, one of the most powerful parables told by Jesus. It is good to listen to it attentively and we should put ourselves in it and become aware of how we would react. Maybe, we may identify with the victim, since nowadays there are plenty of people who see themselves as victims and make demands on everybody else. However, in this parable, the victim suffered terribly, and, being left half-dead, he is not able to make demands on anybody. That’s why the parable concentrates on the attitude of the passers-by towards the victim. The priest and the Levite - two people who dedicated their lives to God - did not want their daily routines to be disrupted and refused to get involved and so they ignored the suffering of the victim, leaving him to die.
If we look at our modern society and try to scrutinize it, we can easily discover certain patterns of behaviour which have become common, such as an enormous individualism and hedonism. We are only concerned with ourselves and our wellbeing, and this leads to an attitude of indifference towards the others. Being very selfish, we avoid anything that may inconvenience us. Nowadays, we may take pictures of someone drowning and publish them on social media, without making the slightest movement to rescue him/her. With our selfishness, we have become extremely callous. And like all others in the past, we go on being concerned with eternal life, that is with our own future wellbeing. However, the parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us that we will never enjoy eternal life unless we pay attention to the suffering of the others and do something to relieve them of that suffering. Our love of God only becomes credible if we love our neighbour as well.
The love of our neighbour is not a platonic love, shown in words and feelings; it implies commitment. In the manner of the Good Samaritan, we must allow ourselves to be touched by the sufferings of the other, whoever he may be and we must be the ones approaching him/her, becoming his neighbour. Christ is that Good Samaritan who never passes us by or walks away from us. Before those who suffer, Jesus never remained indifferent; it was as if he felt an ache in his heart, forcing him to do something. Like the priest and the Levite, we may think of ourselves as good and holy, but we are cheating ourselves if we do nothing to relieve the suffering of those whom we encounter in our daily lives.
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