The parable of the Good Samaritan

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.

We all have the same question that was posed by the learned lawyer, what should we do to inherit eternal life? The answer is simple, love God and love your neighbour. 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 of empathy for others in our heart – the great virtue of compassion. It is easy to say we love God, whom we do not see, hear, or touch but difficult to love our neighbour as ourselves, a neighbour whom we may not like and may not see things the way we do. The greed, selfishness and jealousy in our hearts prevents us to love our neighbour as ourselves. Unless we get rid of these vices from our hearts, it will be impossible to love our neighbour in the ways Jesus asks us to do. Jesus is very clear that God does not need our sacrifices in the form of donations and rituals. What he wants is our compassion and mercy towards our fellow men, most so to those who are in need. Today let’s examine ourselves to see whether we have that compassion of the good Samaritan in our hearts. 10.7.2022