Today’s Gospel reading – A Reflection
Luke 10:25-37
Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Jesus, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read it?"
He answered, "You shall 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."
He said to him, "You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live."
But the lawyer, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbour?"
Jesus answered, "A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
But a certain Samaritan, as he travelled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the host, and said to him, 'Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.'
Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbour to him who fell among the robbers?"
He said, "He who showed mercy on him."
Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
Reflections
The above is the Gospel reading at mass today. It is the story of the Good Samaritan, which we are all very familiar since we were children. It may be timely for us to reflect on the meaning of this story narrated by Jesus at this stage in our lives.
Jesus had clearly indicated who is our neighbour and what it takes to be a good Samaritan.It does not matter which God we believe in or what religion we profess. It does not matter how rich we are or how learned we may be or how powerful we are in society. What truly matters is the feeling for others in our heart – compassion.
Today what we are sked to do is to examine our hearts to see whether we have that compassion of the good Samaritan in our hearts.Lets get rid of the greed,selfishness and jealousy from our hearts and replace them with love, compassion and mercy.
