My neighbor is not the one who shares my religion, my country, my family, or my ideas. My neighbor is the one to whom I am committed. ‘We become brothers and sisters when we commit ourselves to those who need us; we become more so when our commitment is more complete. The Samaritan was not content to give himself partially to the wounded man. He treated him, he bandaged him, he picked him up and carried him to an inn and paid for all that he needed.
The giving of oneself in love is the measure of brotherhood/sisterhood. We are not brothers and sisters if we do not know how to be effectively compassionate to the end.
To approach the Jew, the Samaritan had to make an effort to come out of himself, to put aside any thought of his race, his religion, his prejudices. “One must know that the Jews do no communicate with the Samaritans.” (Lk 10: 36) He had to put his own world and his own immediate interests aside. He abandoned his travel plans and gave of his time and money. As for the priest and the Levite, we do not know if they were better or worse than the Samaritan, but we do know that they never left their own world. Their projects, which they did not want to upset by interrupting their journey, were more important to them than the challenge to become brothers to the wounded man. They considered their ritual and religious functions more important than fraternal charity.” pp 28-29.
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The central theme of Galilea’s book is following Jesus. This is the root of Christianity and ought to be the basis of any movements of spiritual renewal. This is the challenge to the faith in our generation: to find Jesus Christ in the depths of the disconcerting reality that surrounds us and to follow him in the way of the Gospel until we come face to face with the Father. This Gospel spirituality is a necessary foundation for the liberation movement. It must be the foundation that nourishes the struggle against the forces of darkness and evil in our personal lives and in our society.
The following selection is from Following Jesus pp. 28-29.
My Reflection:
“Shattering of our world”, “busting of our balloon”, and “expanding of our horizons” are some of many phrases that capture in some small way Jesus’ teaching. As his followers, we need to take up the cross and die to ourselves. The basic reality of the Christian journey is this death to self and living for God. It is a refocusing that makes God the center by shattering of our false world where we are entrenched as the center.
This personal transformation is spectacularly clear in the story of the Good Samaritan. His schedule gave way to the wounded individual. His comfort gave way to the wounded individual. His money gave way to the wounded individual. His heart would spare no sacrifice, comfort or convenience for the wounded individual. He would accept no barrier of race, religion or culture in his response to the wounded individual.
For the priest and the Levite, the wounded individual was not able to penetrate their schedule, time, compassion, comfort or funds. Perhaps they might have made a donation if there was a second collection for victims of robbery.
The artistry of the contrast in the story is magnificent. The issues of irony in race and religion, generosity and selfishness, heretic and true believer all fragment our world and expose the self-deception and blindness that hide the obvious call to service. As always, God’s compassion and love are shown to be a torrential downpour in contrast to our carefully measured teaspoon of response.
When we are willing to accept the witness of the Samaritan heretic, we are accepting the shattering of our world, the busting of our balloon and the expansion of our horizons on the pilgrimage to God.
