The
command “go and do likewise” was given by Christ at the end of the Gospel
reading this morning. It was directed to the teacher of the law. It simply
means go and love, even your enemies and be kind to those you meet on the road
called life. Christ used the good Samaritan, who was kind to someone he knew
nothing about, as an object of his parable. Question: why did Christ call the
man from Samaria ‘good’? Why was there acrimonious, rancorous and malicious
relationship that sparks off so much animosity between the Jews and the
Samaritans? The Jews were very uncomfortable at the mention of the Samaritans
and vice versa. Why so?
A
brief history will answer these questions. The Samaritans descended from the
Israelites of the Northern tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. These were two of
the twelve sons of Jacob who was named Israel by God. Jacob’s children were:
Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Isachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher,
Ephraim and Manasseh. The 12 of them made up the 12 tribes of Israel. According
Pablo T. Gadenz in his commentary on ‘The Gospel of Luke’, “Jews regarded the
Samaritans as having doubtful lineage on account of intermarriage with the
Gentile peoples imported by the Assyrians after they conquered the northern
kingdom in 721 B.C. and sent some Israelites into exiles (2 Kings 17:6-24; 2
Chron 30:6-11). Besides these ethnic tensions, there was enduring religious
rift associated with the Samaritan’s worship on Mount Gerizim rather than at
the Jerusalem temple (Jn. 4:20). The Hasmonean Jewish ruler John Hyrcanus
destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim around 111 B.C. Later, under
the Roman prefect Coponius (A.D. 6-9), some Samaritans struck back by littering
the Jerusalem temple with human bones at Passover, thus defiling it. Moreover,
when Cumanus was the Roman procurator (A.D. 48-52), Samaritans from the border
village of Ginae killed a group of Galileans passing through Samaria on the way
to Jerusalem for a feast”. This then explains the animosity and hatred between
the brothers of the same father in the same family as it were, to the point
that they could not see past their tribal sentiments.
Jesus
on the hand was not tired of forging a truce between the two factions. To
answer the question, who is my neighbor? Jesus gave a parable of the good
Samaritan who took care of a man who was beaten and left half dead on a
precarious, treacherous and hazardous road. The priest and the Levite could
not help the man for fear of defilement, but the Samaritan put his life in
danger, went to the man, spent time, money and put his donkey at the man’s
service, lodged him in a hotel and promised to stop by on his way back to make
sure the man was doing well. The lawyer who identified the Samaritan (the one
who showed mercy) as the man’s neighbor was told to go and do likewise.
The
first reading exhorts us to go and do likewise by paying heed to the voice of
the Lord, keeping his commandments and statutes as it is written the book of
the law. It reminds us that this commandment is written in our hearts. It is
right in front of us. We need no teacher to teach us how to love, how to
forgive and how to be human. The second reading enjoins us to go and do
likewise by seeing in Jesus Christ the image of the invisible God. If God is
our father and Jesus Christ is our brother, we must treat everyone as brothers
and sisters. Everyone is my neighbor, regardless of ethnic background, creed,
color or language. No one is a stranger to us in the mother earth for the
blessings of God is abundance for everyone, if we only have love in our hearts
for all. Yes, a neighbor is anyone who shows concern and mercy and compassion
to the needy, regardless of material, social, ethnic or racial status. He is
universal in his character and outlook. He may be uneducated or learned, he may
be religious, agnostic, atheist, priest or Levite, yet by his love for one and
all, he demonstrates love for God and humanity, he is a model of authentic love
and altruistic behavior.
The
good Samaritan showed mercy by caring for the sick man. Catholic tradition has
highlighted such corporal works of mercy which also include feeding the hungry,
sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger, and
visiting the imprisoned (cf. Isa 58:6-7; Matt. 25:31-46). Also emphasized are
the spiritual works of mercy, which include instructing others in the faith,
practicing fraternal correction, giving advice or consolation to those who need
it, forgiving and bearing with those who wrong us, and praying for the living
and the dead (Catechism 2447). What works of mercy can I carry out in order to
love my neighbor?
There
is a story by an unknown author about an old man who carried a little can of
oil with him everywhere he went, and if he passed through a door that squeaked,
he put a little oil on the hinges. If a gate was hard to open, he oiled the
latch. So he passed through life lubricating all the creaking places, making it
easier for those who came after him. People called him eccentric, strange,
cranky, odd, and even harsher names. But the old man went steadily on,
refilling his can of oil when it became empty and oiling the squeaking or rusty
hinge, and then go home to get his oil can; he carried it with him at all
times.
There
are many lives that creak and squeak and grate harshly day by day. They need
lubricating with the oil of kindness, gentleness, or thoughtfulness. That can
of oil is one of the predominant characteristics of a Christian life. Such a
can of oil we are to carry around with us at all times.
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