The Good Samaritan

Homily for 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Neighbours Without Borders

1^st Reading: Deuteronomy 30:10-14

Moses said to the people: “If only you would heed the voice of the LORD, your God, and keep his commandments and statutes that are written in this book of the law, when you return to the LORD, your God, with all your heart and all your soul.

"For this command which I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious and remote for you.
It is not up in the sky, that you should say, 'Who will go up in the sky to get it for us and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?'
Nor is it across the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross the sea to get it for us and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?'
No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.

Psalm 69

I pray to you, O LORD,

for the time of your favor, O God!
In your great kindness answer me
with your constant help.

Answer me, O LORD, for bounteous is your kindness:

in your great mercy turn toward me.

I am afflicted and in pain;

let your saving help, O God, protect me.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving.

“See, you lowly ones, and be glad;

you who seek God, may your hearts revive!

For the LORD hears the poor,

and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.”
For God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah.

The descendants of his servants shall inherit it,  

and those who love his name shall inhabit it.

Coloss. 1:15-20. 
Brothers and sisters: Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him.
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he himself might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile all things for him, making peace by the blood of his cross (through him), whether those on earth or those in heaven.

Luke 10:25-37. 
There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read it?"
He said in reply, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."
He replied to him, "You have answered correctly; do this and you will live."
But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
Jesus replied, "A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him.
The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, 'Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.'
Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers' victim?"
He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

 Commentary of the day :

 Saint Ambrose (c.340-397), Bishop of Milan and Doctor of the Church

Jesus told the story of a man who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho"... Jericho is the symbol of this world where, after he had been cast out of Paradise, that is to say the heavenly Jerusalem, Adam went down... It was his change of behaviour, not of place, that made his exile. And what a change! This man Adam, who enjoyed undisturbed happiness, had no sooner lowered himself to this world's sins than he encountered some brigands... Now who are these brigands if not the angels of night and darkness who, on occasion, disguise themselves as angels of light (2Cor 11,15) but are unable to remain thus? They start by stripping us of the garments of spiritual grace we have received: this is how they usually behave so as to cause us harm... Take great care, then, not to let yourself be stripped, like Adam, deprived of the protection of God's commandments and lacking the garment of faith. This is why he received the mortal wound to which the whole human race would have succumbed if the Samaritan had not come down to cure his frightful wound. This is not just any Samaritan: this one did not disdain the man whom the priest and the Levite disdained... This Samaritan came down. “Who has come down from heaven except the one who has gone up to heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven?” (cf Jn 3,13). Seeing that man half dead whom no one before him had been able to heal... he came up beside him. That is to say, by consenting to suffer with us he became our fellow and by showing us mercy he became our neighbour.

 Joke:

 On the outskirts of town, there was a big old pecan tree by the cemetery fence. One day two boys filled up a bucketful of nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the nuts.

 "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me," said one boy. As they were sharing the nuts, two nuts dropped and rolled down towards the fence.
 Another boy came riding along the road on his bicycle. As he passed, he thought he heard voices from inside the cemetery. He slowed down to investigate.
 Sure enough, he heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you and one for me." He just knew what it was. "Oh my," he shuddered, "it's Satan and the Lord dividing the souls at the cemetery.
 He jumped back on his bike and rode off. Just around the bend he met an old man with a cane, hobbling along. "Come here quick," said the boy, "you won't believe what I heard. Satan and the Lord are down at the cemetery dividing up the souls."
 The man said, "Beat it, kid, can't you see it's hard for me to walk." When the boy insisted, though, the man hobble to the cemetery. Standing by the fence they heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for, me."
 The man whispered, "Boy, you've been telling the truth. Let's see if we can see the devil himself." Shaking with fear, they peered through the fence, yet were still unable to see anything. The old man and the boy gripped the wrought iron bars of the fence tighter and tighter as they tried to get a glimpse of Satan.
 At last they heard, "One for you, one for me. And one last one for you. That's all. Now let's go get those two nuts by the fence, and we'll be done."
They say the old guy made it back to town five minutes before the boy.

Catherine Booth, co-founder with her husband William Booth of the Salvation Army, was an electrifying preacher. Wherever she went, crowds of people went to hear her message of hope: princes and nobles, beggars and homeless people. One night, after preaching in a certain city, a certain well-placed lady invited Mrs. Booth to dinner. The lady’s words of welcome as she arrived were: “My dear Mrs. Booth, that meeting was dreadful.” “What do you mean, dear?” asked Mrs. Booth. “Oh, when you were speaking, I was looking at those people opposite to me. Their faces were so terrible, many of them. I don’t think I shall sleep tonight!” “Why, dear, don’t you know them?” Mrs. Booth asked. “Certainly not!” the hostess replied. “Well, that is interesting,” Mrs. Booth said. “I did not bring them with me from London; they are your neighbours!”

The Golden Rule, “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Luke 10:27) which we hear in today’s gospel is not just a Christian thing. Every conceivable religion and culture in the world has the Golden Rule in one form or another. Here is a sampling:

Judaism “What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. That is the law: all the rest is commentary.”

Islam: “No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.”
Hinduism: “This is the sum of duty: do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you.”
Buddhism “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.”
Confucianism: “Do not unto others what you would not have them do unto you.”

If the Golden Rule was so well-known in ancient cultures why then did Jesus spend so much time teaching it as if it was a new thing? It is because Jesus brought a completely new understanding to the commandment. The Golden Rule is understood differently in different religions and cultures. And the key to its understanding lies in the question that the lawyer asks Jesus in today’s gospel, “Who is my neighbour?” (verse 29). Who is my neighbour that I have an obligation to love?

Among the Jews of Jesus’ time there were those who understood “neighbour” in a very limited sense. The Essenes of Qumran, for example, required new members to swear to love the children of light and hate the children of darkness. For them, your neighbour is the one who shares the same religious persuasion as yourself. Other groups, such as the Zealots, would understand neighbour to include only those who shared the same nationality and ethnicity with them. The average Jew would not regard the Samaritan as a neighbour. They are outsiders. The circle of neighbourly love does not include them. Jesus came into a world of “we” and “them,” “we” being the circle of those recognised as neighbours, and “them” being the rest of the world regarded as hostile strangers and enemies of the people.

The new thing in Jesus’ teaching of neighbourly love is his insistence that all humanity is one big neighbourhood. Thus he broke down the walls of division and the borders of prejudice and suspicion that humans erected between “us” and “them.” To bring home this point he tells the story of the Good Samaritan. This man regarded as Enemy Number One by the Jewish establishment simply because he is Samaritan, is the one who finally proves himself to be neighbour to the Jewish man in need. Thus to the question “Who is my neighbour” Jesus’ answer is: Anyone and everyone without exception.

The lady who invited Mrs Booth to dinner understood her “neighbour” to be limited only to those on her social and economic level. Mrs Booth reminded her that her “neighbour” should include the nobodies of society. Like this lady, we all need to be reminded that the Christian understanding of “neighbour” admits of no borders. Today is the day to identity and tear down all the borders we have erected between those who belong to us (and are, therefore, deserving of our love and concern) and those who don’t (those others who can go to hell). Sometimes these walls of division are religious in nature, as in the case of religious intolerance, or in the mutual distrust and hatred between those who call themselves “conservatives” and those who call themselves “liberals.” Other times they are ethnic and racial, as in the bad blood between Blacks and Whites in places like South Africa and parts of the United State. They could also be social and economic, as in the divide between suburban neighbourhoods and the inner-city. The gospel today challenges us all to dismantle these walls. This way we work with Jesus to realise his dream of the world as a neighbourhood without borders.