Gospel: Luke 10:25-37
There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said,
“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is
written in the law? How do you read it?” He said in reply, “You shall love the
Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your
strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” He replied to
him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” But because he
wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus
replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to
Jericho. They stripped and beat 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 my 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 said to him,
“Go and do likewise.”
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Reflection:
Is there such a word as perfect love? Yes, there is it’s when we are able
to live our love for God and neighbor. To love God is to worship Him with all
our being and to love our neighbor is to humanize our love for God.
It was very ironic that the priest who was supposed to love God failed to
humanize his love for God same as with the Levite who was also involved in the
service for God. Both the priest and the Levite failed the test of true love
and discipleship because they simply ignored the man in need of their help.
They might have reasons for ignoring the man in need but whatever reasons
that they might have was not valid at all. What if the Samaritan did not pass
by? The victim may have died due to the indifference of the two.
It was good that the exemplar of perfect love (Samaritan) passed by
otherwise the victim might have bleed to his death.
Many of us who love and worship God fails to translate this love to a
love for our fellowmen. Some of us are able to translate this love for God to a
love for our neighbor. But we oftentimes limit our love for our neighbor to
those whom we only know and to those who are only good to us.
If the person in need of our help is not good to us we may simply pass
them by and ignore them just like what the priest and Levite did. Jesus urges
us to follow the example of the Good Samaritan who exemplified perfect love. He
took care of the victim even if he doesn’t know him. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
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