This weekend at Mass, our pastor gave a good homily. At least, I think it was good. I might have lost focus. At some point in the homily, Fr. Joseph made a reference to the Parable of the Good Samaritan. In particular, his recounting of how both the priest and the Levite in that story felt the need to go to the other side of the road to pass the injured man got me thinking, which made paying attention the rest of the homily somewhat impossible. Sorry, Father.
I suppose what struck me the most about that part of the story was how those two guys not only refused to help him but didn’t even want to be near him as they passed by. Since this is only a parable, the hearer of the story is left to wonder why Jesus included this detail at all. I feel that the story would probably have worked just as well if the first two travelers had simply noticed the injured man and kept going, without helping him. Why then, was it necessary for Jesus to amplify the abhorrence of their behavior by adding that these two men did everything they could to avoid the man altogether? Well, as you might expect, I have a thought about that.
The question Jesus was answering, which prompted the telling of the parable, was ‘and who is my neighbor?’, asked by a scholar of the law. This question was posed at the end of the dialogue about the ‘greatest commandment’. According to the account from Luke, the scholar was asking his question in order to ‘justify’ his own Judaic practice after recounting to Jesus what was written in the law. So, Jesus tells this story to lay out for him not only who his neighbor is, but what might constitute neighborly behavior, probably to challenge how well he believes he is practicing his faith. In the telling of the parable, Jesus holds the actions of the Samaritan up as the model of what a good neighbor is:
-a neighbor could be anyone, including someone foreign to you.
-you must come near enough to your neighbor to notice what needs they might have.
-take care of your neighbor’s immediate needs, as you are able.
-continue to see to your neighbor’s well-being, even after their immediate needs are met.
The first two men in the parable avoided all of this. Passing around him on the other side of the road meant that they wouldn’t have to see the extent of his injuries, thereby freeing them of the inconvenience of having to do something about it. Avoiding him also meant it was possible that the injured man would not notice them, would not make eye contact with them. Eye contact might cause them to actually feel something for him, which might force them into action.
There are people struggling all around you. There are people suffering nearby. People are lonely, desperate, hopeless, injured, sick, and grieving. Many of them are just like the injured man on the side of the road, hoping someone will notice them and see to their needs. Do you know who they are? Are you close enough to your “neighbors” to notice their wounds or do you give them a wide berth, letting others (hopefully others) see to their needs?
-Shannon