Who is my neighbor? I think that this is a good question we need to ask ourselves today and reflect about. Who is my neighbor? Who deserves my love? Is it only my relatives? Or Is it only my friends?, or only people of my country? How can I love my enemies, terrorists, the one who gossip in my name? To understand the question the scholar addressed to Jesus, who is my neighbor, it is important to know that Jewish people and Samaritans did not get along. They hated each other. Samaritans in Jesus’ day were despised by the Jews. For the Jews , the Samaritans were heretics by the fact that they believed only in some books of the Old Testament such as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. They did not accept the rest of the Old Testament. They did not know about the temple of Jerusalem. So, there was a lot bad blood between these two groups. In this context (in the time of Jesus) love of neighbor applied only to the Israelites and people living in Israel but not others. However it was Jesus who came to save all the people, gave a different interpretation of this commandment. He extended it to love everyone without exception, even one’s enemies.
To respond to the scholar, Jesus told the story about the good Samaritan. It is a practical story of compassion. I love this story because it challenges me to examine not only my generosity and compassion but also how I treat others. So, the good Samaritan, this man regarded as Enemy Number One by the Jewish simply because he is Samaritan, he is the one who finally proves himself to be neighbor to the Jewish man in need. A despised guy who helped the man who was a victim of violence after the priest and Levite passed by. This story was a shock for the listeners of Jesus’ time. Not because the priest passed by, or the Levite passed by but because it was a Samaritan, this despised man who stopped to help someone in need. At the end of the story, Jesus asked the same question to the scholar. Who is my neighbor ? In reply the scholar said: The one who showed mercy to the man who was injured. The one who took care of him. The one who showed compassion. And Jesus said to him: Ok, you answered correctly.
Good point, good answer. Go and do the same. Jesus did not say go and pray. He said go and act. That means Jesus asked the scholar to go and be compassionate to anyone, not only to your brothers and sisters. Like this Samaritan. Go and love everyone, not only people who belong to your religion. Jesus is asking the scholar to extend his love, even for his enemies. Go and break down the borders (walls) of division, the borders of prejudice and the borders of suspicion that humans erected between them. Jesus is asking the scholar to change his view and to see everyone like God sees them, with love and compassion.
My brothers and sisters, today is the day to tear down all the borders we have built between those who belong to us (I mean those who deserve our love and concern ) and those who don’t. Today is the day to break the borders of division, borders of intolerance and borders of distrust between people. Today is the day. In the Gospel today we are called to dismantle these walls in order to see everyone like brother and sister, in order to see others like God sees them, with love and compassion, without borders. God expects us not only to care for our neighbor, but to see as neighbor anyone who is in need.
In many ways, that’s the issue at hand here: the priest and Levite don’t see the man in the ditch as a neighbor, but as a burden, as something that will delay them from accomplishing whatever task or duty has put them on this road in the first place. The Samaritan, however, wherever he may be going or whatever time pressures he may feel, sees this man in need as a person, as a child of God, as someone who deserves his time and attention. For this reason, I think we would do well to invite our people to wonder whom we see as neighbor and whom we overlook.
Most often, we look out first for our immediate and then extended family, and then close friends, and then those who are most like us or share our values or associations. Like the priest and Levite, we tend to overlook and avoid those who are different from us. To the question “Who is my neighbor” Jesus’ answer is: Anyone and everyone without exception. Your husband. Your wife. Your children. The person next door. The people in the nursing home. The person who is from the other political party. The public sinner. The person who mistreated you in your childhood. Terrorists. Al Qaeda, Isis? All those who are people in prisons. Homeless person you saw yesterday. People who look different, or believe differently, or observe different cultural customs than we do. The person who hates you. The person who hurts you. The person who refuses to forgives you. The person who spread the gossip in your name. How can we possibly love these people? Only by God’s grace and mercy. Only if we can overcome our fear of loving. Only if we allow God to work through us. This is the way to become a Christian, says Jesus.
Let us pray…..Let us ask God the grace to see all the people like God sees them, with love and compassion. Go and be a good Samaritan to anyone.
