A teacher of the Law asks who his neighbor is. Jesus answers with a story and turns the question around: not «who deserves my help?», but «whose neighbor do I become?». The Samaritan makes no speeches: he sees, he is moved, he bends down.
Teacher, I too ask what I must do to live.
You send me back to love, simple and demanding.
To love God with my whole heart,
and my neighbor as myself.
How often I saw and walked on.
I was in a hurry, afraid, full of reasons.
Forgive me, Lord, for the roads I took on the other side.
Make my eyes able to stop.
Like the Samaritan, give me a heart that is moved.
Let me pour oil and wine on wounds,
lift up, carry, stay a little while,
seeking neither applause nor reward.
Christ, you are the truest Samaritan.
You bent down over wounded humanity.
You carried us on your shoulders
and paid for us, to the very end.
Father, look upon those lying along our roads.
Send generous hands and open inns.
Make us your Church that cares.
Amen.
Explanation
In the Gospel of Luke (10:25-37), a teacher of the Law asks Jesus how to inherit eternal life. Jesus points him to the double commandment of love for God and neighbor. Then the man asks: «And who is my neighbor?». Jesus tells of a man attacked by robbers on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho and left half dead. A priest and a Levite pass by. A Samaritan, instead, is moved with compassion, tends the wounds and entrusts him to an innkeeper. In the end Jesus concludes: «Go and do likewise». We do not find our neighbor: we become one.
Practical Applications for Daily Life
- Stop: When you see a need, give yourself one minute before walking on.
- Call by name: Phone someone wounded by life and listen without hurry.
- Open your wallet: Support a charitable work today with a concrete gesture.
- Cross the boundary: Help someone you usually avoid or consider distant.
- Stay beyond the first gesture: Do not stop at occasional help: ask how you can continue.
Questions for Personal or Group Reflection
- When did I walk past someone in need?
- Do I try to justify myself like the teacher of the Law?
- Who is the wounded person on my road today?
- What stops me: haste, fear or habit?
- How can I become a neighbor to someone this week?