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:
How do we
express our love for God and neighbor?
It is by caring for those who are in need no
matter who they may be. For so long as they’re in need we should help them but
there are those who are so withdrawn that even if they’re in need they find it
hard to ask for help. There are people who are like this; they’re in need but
they don’t ask for help because of low self-esteem and shyness.
What should we do? We must be sensitive to
their plight, we must not be stonehearted we should help without being asked
for help.
The
question of the scholar of the law is perhaps also our question before Jesus:
How can we inherit eternal life? And Jesus referred them to what was written in
the law; Love of God and love of our neighbor; these are the two keys to have
eternal life.
Jesus
further reinforced these two teachings with a story of a man who was victimized
by robbers. As he lay half-dead a priest followed by a Levite both prominent
people passed by but they did not lift a finger to help him. Afterwards a
Samaritan came and he surprisingly helped the man, then not content with
helping him the Samaritan brought the man to an inn to be properly nursed
there.
It’s not
enough to say, we love God and our neighbors for these are mere words that are
empty. We put life and meaning to these two greatest commandments when we become
like the Samaritan. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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