WHAT KIND OF NEIGHBOR ARE YOU?

WHAT KIND OF NEIGHBOR ARE YOU?

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

The Church of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary

Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Today’s gospel taken from Luke 10: 25-37 is about the dialogue between Jesus and a lawyer. The gospel says that “the scholar of the law stood up to test Jesus” with a question: “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” But Jesus directed the question back to him and reminded him that he is an authority on God’s law: “(Tell me) what is written in the law? How do you read it? The lawyer answered by quoting the “Great Commandments”-

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.

Jesus acknowledged his knowledge of the Law, but immediately pointed out that the knowledge of the law is not enough. That knowledge must be concretized, it must be lived out: You have answered correctly; do this and you will live. But the lawyer seeking to justify himself and also to test Jesus even further asked “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus was not ready to waste his time giving a dictionary definition of the word “neighbor.” He decided to tell him a parable that will not only elucidate the point he was making but will also humble the lawyer.

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.

Then Jesus asked the learned man “Which of these three, in your opinion was neighbor to the robber’s victim? Now because the Jewish people despised and hated the Samaritans, the lawyer couldn't even say “It is the Samaritan,” he rather said “The one who treated him with mercy.” In order to teach and humble the proud Jewish lawyer, Jesus said to him “Go and do likewise.” This means, “Even though you have no regard for the Samaritans, you call them half-breeds, you consider them to be racially inferior to you just because they intermarry with the Assyrians, but in this case, you must imitate him if you want to enter heaven.” Jews hated the Samaritans worse than they hated the Romans even though they shared a common ancestry. Jews disregarded the Samaritans because they worshipped Baal instead of Yahweh. In their opinion “Outside the worship of Yahweh, there is no salvation.” “There is no other name and no other way by which anyone can be saved, except the name of Yahweh and the way of Judaism.” Does this sound familiar to you? For centuries the Catholic Church wrongly claimed that “Outside the Catholic Church, there is no salvation.” It was only at Vatican II that the Church recognized that the “Spirit blows wherever it wills” therefore Protestants, Pentecostals, Hindu, Buddhists, Traditionalists, and even atheists (who follow their conscience) can be saved. A member of the Samaritan race viewed as hell bound by the Jews is the one to be imitated by a learned Jew in order to be saved. “Gosh!” The lawyer would have said.

This parable has some things to teach us. First, the traveler must have been either ignorant of the dangerousness of traveling on that road alone or he was an irresponsible and unwise fellow. People avoided travelling the Jerusalem to Jericho road alone, especially if they were carrying goods or other valuables. Some scholars blame the Samaritan man for the plight in which he found himself.

Secondly, the parable tells us that a priest happened to be going down that road. But he ignored a needy and dying man. When we read this text, we obviously blamed the priest. We may have called him names for his insensitivity. Some would even say “Shame on you. You are not supposed to be a priest.” But wait a minute! The priest did not ignore the dying man because he was a bad priest. At that moment, he had remembered the stipulation of the law that says “Whoever touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean for seven days.” The man beaten by robbers may have been motionless, so the passing priest chose to be ritually clean over the man that needed help. To touch him would mean losing his turn of duty in the Temple. The priest like many of us priests chose liturgical correctness and accuracy above the virtue of charity. Just like that priest, the Church and its liturgical rubrics meant more to some of us priests than the anguish of a person.

After the priest had passed, likewise a Levite came to the place. Just like the priest, the Levite also passed by on the opposite side. The Levites were also officials of the Temple, though subordinate to the priests. The tribe of Levi was set apart to tend to the priestly functions when the twelve tribes of Israel were first established. In the time of Jesus, Levites were saddled among other things, with the keeping of Temple treasury. So this Levite that passed by on the opposite side may be carrying a large sum of money. Bandits were in the habit of using tricks. One of them would pretend to be wounded, and when an unsuspecting traveler stopped over him to help, others hiding very close by would jump on him and overpower him. But there was a man who was not afraid of robbers, or kidnappers. He was ready to lay down his life and treasure to save another’s life.

When those who claimed to serve the living God had all passed, one man from a tribe and race considered to be doomed emerged. When the so called religious people who ought to know that faith is worthless without the obedience of faith, i.e. good deeds ignored the needy man, someone who would be considered “a pagan, a heretic, a non-believer” appeared and declared by his action “show me your faith, and I will show you my good deeds” (James 2: 18). A Samaritan man showed up and demonstrated that the human life is sacred. He attended to the beaten man, bandaged his wounds, took him where he would be taken care of and even paid the bills.

So in this parable the hero wasn’t the priest or the Levi, or the Jews. The hero was a member of a despised race- the Samaritan man. It wasn’t the priests, or the Levites, or even the Jews who held the pathway to the Kingdom of God, but whomever God chose to call, including a lowly Samaritan.

The scholar of law wanted to know who his neighbor was: “And who is my neighbor?” He wanted to define neighbor in reference to others. But Jesus defined neighbor in reference to him. He is also defining neighbor in reference to us. As far as Jesus is concerned, neighbor is not the object of the sentence, but the subject. Therefore, the question is no longer “Who is my neighbor?” rather, “What kind of neighbor am I?” The neighbor is not just the man on the side of the road; it is not just the woman sitting on the margins of the society; the neighbor is the man standing before Jesus; it is also that voice of conscience that speaks from within us.

After the lawyer had answered correctly “The one who treated him (i.e. the man beaten by robbers) with mercy” was the true neighbor, Jesus urged him “Go, and do likewise.” Jesus’ answer can be interpreted as follows:

i. We must be willing to help someone even when he was responsible for his/her plight.

ii. The needy are our neighbor.

iii. The help we render must be practical and not just merely feeling sorry. Saying “You are in my thoughts and prayers” is not enough. Feeling sorry is not enough. I am sure the priest and the Levite must have felt sorry for the wounded man. They must have said a prayer in their hearts as they walked away, but then, they did nothing. For compassion to be real, it must be demonstrated in deeds.

iv. Since our neighbor includes the voice of conscience speaking within us “Do good and avoid evil,” we must strive to pay attention and listen to it, and carry out its bidding.

Dearest friends, as I said earlier on, the question today is no longer “Who is my neighbor?” rather “What kind of neighbor are you?” What Jesus said to the lawyer at the end of their dialogue, he also says to us today “Go, and do likewise.” Doing likewise will determine the kind of neighbor we are.

God bless you all today, bless you tomorrow, bless you everyday of your life on earth, and bless you forevermore! Amen!