Readings: Deuteronomy 30:10-14; Colossians 1:13-20; Luke 10: 25-37
Theme: Who is my neighbour? (Luke 10:29)
By Michael McCabe, SMA
Some of you may remember ‘Neighbours’, the popular Australian soap opera of the 1980s and 90’s, it was a favourite of my Mum’s. She would never miss an episode and, when home on holidays, I usually watched it with her. She related to the characters in the drama like they were members of her own family. I don’t remember much about the drama but I do recall the theme song. Here are the words of the opening verse:
‘Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours.
Just a friendly wave each morning helps to make a better day.
Neighbours need to get to know each other.
Next door is only a footstep away.’
This song clearly reflects our common understanding of neighbours as the people living nearby – ‘a footstep away’.
Our gospel reading today invites us to reflect on what it means to be neighbourly and who we see as our neighbour. It recounts the familiar parable of The Good Samaritan – a moving story about a striking act of kindness shown to an unfortunate victim of violent robbery. Jesus tells this story in the context of a conversation with a Jewish lawyer. The lawyer is not interested in learning from Jesus. He simply wants to test him. So, he asks him a question: ‘What must I do to possess eternal life?’ (Lk 10:25). The lawyer of course, like all law-abiding Jews, already knows the answer, so Jesus turns the question back to him: What does the law say? The lawyer immediately answers by citing the basic commandments of the Law: Love God and your neighbour as yourself (cf. Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18). Jesus responds by telling him to do this and he will live (that is, he will have the quality of life God desires for us). The lawyer is still not happy. So, ‘to justify himself’, he asks the further question: Who is my neighbour?, to which Jesus replies with the story of the good Samaritan.
The first thing that strikes us about this story is that it does not answer the lawyer’s question. It doesn’t give us a definition of neighbour which is what the lawyer was looking for. What it does answer is another far more personal question: How can I be a neighbour to others, especially those most in need of loving care? The setting of the story is a man on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho who is beaten, robbed, and left half-dead (Lk 10:30). Two Jews, a priest and a Levite, both well-versed in the prescriptions of the Law, ignore him completely, passing by on the other side of the road (Lk 10:31-32). The reasons for their neglect are not stated. They may have regarded themselves as law-abiding, even devout, but they failed to act as neighbours to the unfortunate man left to die on the roadside. We could ask ourselves, do we sometimes act like them? Do we ignore the unfortunate victims around us? Along comes a Samaritan traveller, a despised outsider (the Jews did not mix with Samaritans) who not only stops when he sees the injured man, but gets down of his mount (a donkey probably) and attends to his needs.
The story highlights both the attitude of the Samaritan to the injured man – probably a Jew – and the quality of practical care he gives him. When he sees him, he is ‘moved with compassion’ (Lk 10:34). This is the same expression used to describe Jesus’ feelings for the crowds of people who come to listen to him, and who are ‘like sheep without a shepherd’ (Mt 9:36). Compassion implies fellow-feeling, identifying with the pain and suffering of another person.
The story also describes in detail, without sentimentality or drama, the attention and care the Samaritan gives to the injured man. He binds up his wounds, alleviates his pain with oil and wine, lifts him onto his donkey, brings him to an inn, and looks after him. The next day he leaves him in the care of the inn-keeper, making sure to cover the cost of his care, and promising to pay for any further expense incurred.
At the end of the story Jesus asks the lawyer which of the three characters (in the story) ‘showed himself neighbour to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?’ (Lk 10: 36). The answer obvious and the lawyer has no choice but to reply: ‘the one who took pity on him’. He has been outsmarted. He wanted a definition of neighbour which would allow him to prioritise the claims on his love (a position recently defended by the American Vice President, J D Vance). The question of Jesus put an end to this way of thinking. Before the lawyer goes away, hopefully a chastened and changed man, Jesus tells him to go and do the same as the Samaritan did (Lk 10:37). That’s also his challenge to us, and to all who want the life God wishes us to have. As Pope Francis reminded us in his great Encyclical on Fraternity and Social Friendship (Fratelli Tutti). ‘We are all called, just like the Good Samaritan, to become neighbours to others, overcoming prejudices, personal interests, historic and cultural barriers. We are all co-responsible creators of a society that is able to include, integrate and uplift those who have fallen by the wayside or are suffering’ (FT 81). So, let us strive to be the kind of neighbours Jesus wants us to be
Listen to an alternative Homily by Tom Casey, SMA: