The Good Samaritan
drchris July 15th, 2007
Date published: Sunday, July 15, 2007
Whose schedule really matters?
Reflecting on our Sunday Readings
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 15, 2007
Readings: Dt 30:10 -14; Col 1: 15-20; Luke 10: 25-37
Usually when we hear the parable of the Good Samaritan the priest will note in his homily that those who passed up the poor man were part of the Temple ritual and should not be confused with Christian or Catholic Church priests or Church workers. I’m not so sure.
Yes, the priest and Levite of the parable had to avoid ritual impurity and would not have been able to serve their function in the Temple if they had touched a dead or diseased person. But I am not so sure that the parable couldn’t point to all of us, priests and Church workers included.
With the growth of the people in the faith and the shortage of priests, we priests are busier than ever. But, are we too busy to be compassionate? When a person comes to the office crying, when a wife calls to ask if someone could see her husband before he dies, when a young couple need to deal with a crisis, a priest has to forego his schedule, or make an appropriate accommodation, and show compassion for those who are hurting. All Church workers as well as those who teach in our schools and childhood centres need to do the same. If we don’t, and when we don’t, then we become so busy doing our work that we miss the Lord reaching out to us. “But, I’m doing the Lord’s work,” we might protest, and we do so protest. Then we are confronted with this rhetorical question: “How can you be doing the Lord’s work if you are missing the presence of the Lord reaching out for help?”
It is the same for all Christians. We cannot claim that we are doing something good if the major action of our Christianity is mere attendance in Church.
Recently I was speaking with a young mom who got herself into a bit of a predicament marriage-wise. Actually, it was the lack of the marriage that made the predicament. She was in my office with her fiancé as we were getting things straightened out for them both. As an aside, let me say that I often mention to people that our lives would be wonderful if we went in a straight line from the starting line to the finishing line, but sadly none of us do. What is important is that we find ways to get to that finishing line. Anyway, so you can see I had two good people in my office who were not in a proper relationship but who were working on it. Back to the story, the girl told me about a friend of hers who was killed and how she and her fiancé were spending all sorts of time with the friend’s family as well as writing to them, sending them notes encouraging them to keep the faith and to know that God was with them. I said to myself, “Now this is a good Christian and a Good Samaritan.” She may not be seen by some to be in the mainstream of religious life like the Samaritan of the parable, but she knows what she needs to do to be a Christian. She needs to be compassionate.
Good Christian husbands, when your wives are having a down day, or are in a funk, perhaps feeling overwhelmed and under-appreciated, be good Christians and good Catholics and drop whatever you are doing to just be with her. Don’t be concerned like most men with accomplishing something, or even with solving her problems. You can’t. Just be present for her and with her, even if you do nothing more than chat. That is being compassionate. That is being a Good Samaritan.
Good Christian wives, when your husband is so concerned over providing better for the family, and is full of anxiety wondering how you are going to pay for your ordinary expenses, let alone the kids’ college and your own future, just let him know that you and he will always be together, you will always have love and God will take care of the rest. All of us men have a lot of ‘little boy’ in us that needs to hear someone we love tell us everything is going to be OK. That is how you ladies can be Good Samaritans.
Good Christian parents, stop being so concerned with filling your children’s schedule and be more concerned with being physically present to hear their needs when they express them. Maybe the folks next door have their kids in every activity possible. If that works for them, great. But being a Good Samaritan for your own children is being available to be compassionate for them.
Good Christian children and Teens, your Mom and Dad love you, but they are not perfect. Like you, God is still working on them. He’s basically working on them through you teaching them new levels of patience and understanding. Even still, the worse thing that bothers your parents is when they think they have not been as good parents as they could have been. When you know they feel bad about how they reacted to something you said or did, how about letting it go and give them a hug or kiss? Better yet, how about not provoking them and do your part in the family-chores, etc.
Good Christians, all of us, we need to stop trying to “schedule Jesus”. Jesus is not on our schedule. We are on His schedule. And He is on the schedule of those who need us to show compassion.
Pray, all of us, that we don’t overlook His presence when He reaches out to us in those who need our love, our charity. — Fr Joseph Pellegrino
From the Early Church
Who is my neighbour?
To interpret the parable of the Good Samaritan, one of the elders used to say that the man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho was Adam. He said Jerusalem was paradise, Jericho was the world, and the brigands were enemy powers. The priest was the law, the Levite the prophets, and the Samaritan Christ.
Adam’s wounds were his disobedience, the animal that carried him was the body of the Lord, and the “pandochium” or inn, open to all who wished to enter, was the Church. The two denarii represented the Father and the Son, and the innkeeper was the head of the Church, who was entrusted with its administration. The promised return of the Samaritan was a figure of the second coming of the Saviour.
The Samaritan was carrying oil — oil to make his face shine as scripture says, referring surely to the face of the man he cared for. He cleansed the man’s wounds with oil to soothe the inflammation and with wine that made them smart, and then placed him on his own mount, that is, on his own body, since he had condescended to assume our humanity.
This Samaritan bore our sins and suffered on our behalf; he carried the half dead man to the inn which takes in everyone, denying no one its help; in other words, to the Church. To this inn Jesus invites all when he says: Come to me, all who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you new strength.
After bringing in the man half-dead the Samaritan did not immediately depart, but remained and dressed his wounds by night as well as by day, showing his concern and doing everything he could for him.
In the morning when he wished to set out again he took from his own purse silver coins, from his own sterling money, two denarii to pay the innkeeper — clearly the angel of the Church — and ordered him to nurse with all diligence and restore to health the man whom for a short time he himself had personally tended.
This guardian of souls who showed mercy to the man who fell into the hands of brigands was a better neighbour to him than were either the law or the prophets, and he proved this more by deeds than by words.
Now the saying: Be imitators of me as I am of Christ makes it clear that we can imitate Christ by showing mercy to those who have fallen into the hands of brigands. We can go to them, bandage their wounds after pouring in oil and wine, place them on our own mount, and bear their burdens.
