About the Love of Neighbor

Passage Luke 10:25-37:

25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and made trial of him, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

26 And he said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?

27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.

28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?

30 Jesus made answer and said, 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.

31 And by chance a certain priest was going down that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

32 And in like manner a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side.

33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion,

34 and came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on them oil and wine; and he set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

35 And on the morrow he took out two shillings, and gave them to the host, and said, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, I, when I come back again, will repay thee.

36 Which of these three, thinkest thou, proved neighbor unto him that fell among the robbers?

37 And he said, He that showed mercy on him. And Jesus said unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

Let me repeat these last two verses of the Gospel story.

"36 Which of these three, thinkest thou, proved neighbor unto him that fell among the robbers?

37 And he said, He that showed mercy on him. And Jesus said unto him, Go, and do thou likewise."

First off, I have a full sermon of Fr. Rolando on the occasion of this 15th Sunday of Ordinary Times. The following is the attached homily of Fr. Rolando:

re: the Good Samaritan

by Rev. Fr. Rolando Petronio, St George Parish

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FIFTEENTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR

The Story of the Good Samaritan

"THE ROAD FROM JERICHO TO JERUSALEM RUNS THROUGH OUR NEIGHBORHOOD; AND IT IS STREWN WITH WOUNDED PEOPLE. THERE IS A WORLD CRYING OUT FOR MERCY AT OUR VERY DOOR. IF WE ARE ALERT AND SENSITIVE WE CAN COME IN CONTACT WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE LONELY, HUNGRY FOR ATTENTION AND LOVE, CRUSHED BY DISAPPOINTMENTS AND FAILURES, AND GUILT-RIDDEN & WOUNDED BY SIN."

The parable of the Good Samaritan is one of our Lord's best known short stories. When a lawyer approached Jesus as to who his neighbor was, Jesus directed his attention to what being a good neighbor entailed. He painted a portrait of a man who was robbed on the road to Jerusalem through Jericho, and beaten within inch of losing his life. The Priest and the Levite passed by on the other side of the road for fear touching a possibly dead body would have meant their exclusion from religious service in the Temple. Their brand of worship was not inspired by the love of neighbor but by religious duty. The unlikely hero of the story turned out to be a loathed Samaritan who, acting out of sheer love and generosity instead of a sense of duty, opened his heart and recognized a neighbor even in a Jew that despised him.

Neighborliness is not the attitude which consists in helping those who are good to us. But it is a matter of being ready to come to the assistance of those in need, even to perfect strangers. There is to be no picking and choosing, or limit to the scope of our giving. Because we are all God's children nobody is to be excluded from a claim on our help. The story is easily understood; and is painfully true; but difficult to put into practice. It forces us to think about ourselves, and to

reflect on the quality and quantity of our acts of charity. We are made to ask the question if we are doing what Jesus would want us to do in his name. When it is a matter of putting ourselves out for people we can find all suitable excuses to avoid unpleasant duties, and let the opportunities to do good pass us by. Our spark of compassion is easily snuffed out as we look the other way. The road from Jericho to Jerusalem runs through our neighborhood; and it is strewn with wounded people. There is a world crying out for mercy at our very door. If we are alert and sensitive we can come in contact with people who are lonely, hungry for attention and love, crushed by disappointments and failures, and guilt-ridden & wounded by sin.

The Good Samaritan represents Jesus Christ who, reaching out in love, came to the rescue of the human race in its pitiful condition; and healed our wounds by dying on the Cross of Calvary. That act of love cost him his life. He expects us to stop and help those in need; though it cost us time, trouble, and expense. The Gospel demonstrates here the pains demanded of us: that there is no loving of God without our loving of a neighbor in distress.

God bless us all. We are reminded today that God the Father has given each of us the ministry of being a good neighbor. With confidence in his love we come now to ask his help in serving our neighbors. Heavenly Father, open our hearts to receive your mercy and compassion. Give us the grace to recognize Christ in all who suffer, and are downtrodden. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.

In my Internet posting, I write the following:

To be truthful is to be faithful, is not to be fake. Not only in words but more so in deeds, does a truthful individual come true. The utmost manifestation of the Truth of Christ is the realization of his commandment of love. Only if men love is salvation successfully preached to the world, to mankind. Indeed, the saints already in the heavens, and the saints, who are still with us on earth, are faithful to the precepts of love; and by the grace of God testify to us for our remembering and edification that loving expressed by their lives: to remain and to always give something or themselves because they are needed by their neighbor. More importantly than just being identified with our Lord, the Scriptures tell us how when we love we actually get to be with God. St. John the Evangelist writes, God is love; and whoever abides in love, abides in God. Previously, John writes that, "Anyone who loves (Jesus) will be true to (his) word, and (his) Father will love him; and (they: the Father & Jesus) will come to him and make (their) dwelling place with him." A similar statement of John is the following, "If we keep on loving others, we will stay one in our hearts with God, and he will stay one with us." Hence, even before the everlasting abiding in God upon admission to heaven, souls ever actively, restlessly loving already get to abide in God while yet journeying in this world. As they love they manifest the presence of God first to themselves, and to all others around them, who can not but witness to the manifestation of good deeds only God-ly human beings are capable of. John further writes, "..Our love for each other proves that we have gone from death to life. But if you don’t love each other, you are still under the power of death". Further on John also states, "When we love others we know that we belong to the truth, and we feel at ease in the presence of God.." He also says, "..If we truly love others and live as Christ did in this world, we won’t be worried about the day of judgment. A real love for others will chase those worries away."

The above is a metaphysical conception of what happens when we love, when we love our neighbor. But for practical purposes, like St. James says, "Faith without works is dead." , and so unless we do practice the love of our neighbor, and the love of neighbor according to the illustrated exemplification by the Lord, any attempt of metaphysical understanding becomes of no significance. Like Fr. Rolando tells us,".. God the Father has given each of us the ministry of being a good neighbor." And like the Lord has told the wise student of the law, we are to "..Go, and do thou likewise."