On this Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, we reflect on the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus tells this story in response to a discussion with a scholar of the law about the Greatest Commandment: “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” (Luke 10:27).
This commandment of love toward our neighbor is not about proximity; it is not about a shared association of a particular religion or political party or race or ethnicity; it is not about whether or not someone is a stranger to us; it is not about agreement or liking or disliking a person or group of persons. We simply are called to love everyone, and the love of which Jesus speaks is not about how we feel; it is about how we conduct ourselves in the presence of other human persons all the time and everywhere.
After finishing the parable, Jesus asks the scholar which of the three men who encountered the injured person on the side of the road was a neighbor to him. The scholar answers: “The one who treated him with mercy” (Luke 10:37). The love of which Jesus speaks is a way of life that offers kindness and generosity even to those with whom we have no apparent relationship and no apparent reason to take the time to care for them, as well as everyone else.
Reflection: Spend some time this week pondering this question: What kind of neighbor am I?
