(Reflections for July 14, 2019)
Gospel: (Luke 10:25-37)

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said…“And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped 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 the 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 answered, “Go and do likewise.”

Reflection:

Jesus responds to the lawyer’s question with a parable that illustrates how keeping the law isn’t a matter of focusing on details regarding right or wrong or personal gain, but is a matter of right of right relationships with one’s neighbor as exhibited by acting with compassion and mercy. The Samaritan in the parable isn’t moved to help the stricken traveler because of the law but because he was a person of compassion and mercy. This is the law written within our hearts—not details about keeping specific laws but a general regard for the other that arises out of genuine care for the other. (Living Liturgy, p.172)

Vincentian Meditation:

“There are scripture scholars who say that there is a very subtle twist to the end of the parable. Jesus asks the lawyer: “Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the man who fell in with robbers?” The answer came, “The one who treated him with mercy.” It would seem that in asking the lawyer that question, Jesus was saying equivalently to him, “You asked Me ‘who was my neighbor?’ That was not a good question. The question you should have asked me was: “To whom can I BE neighbor? And the answer to that question is, ‘the first poor person you meet on the road.’” (McCullen, Deep Down Things,p. 141)

Discussion: (Share your thoughts after a moment of silence)

As a Conference “To whom can we BE neighbor?”

Closing Prayer:

Lord, give us the grace to love you with all our heart,
with all our being, with all our strength, and with all
all our mind, and our neighbor as our self. Amen