Monday of 27th Week, uneven numbered year
There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said : ’Teacher, what must I do to inherit etrenal life?’ He 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 soul, with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.’ Jesus said to him,’ You have answered correctly, do this and you will live.’
Jonas isn’t touched by the fact that another person is unhappy, this love isn’t what interests him. This ’neighbour from Nievea’ certainly isn’t one of his neighbours! And so he finds all sorts of reasons not to come to his aid. In fact, he turns himself into the centre of attention. Like the Priest and Levite, Jonas takes the opposite direction. Within him there are conflicts of priorities. Paralysis sets in, and even anger can be let loose in such a situation! And why not accusation too. Jonas is lying down in the hold of the boat, asleep, having been overcome by a mysterious sleep. We can find ourselves in this voluntary setting aside of ourselve ; thus closed in, harbouring our angers whether they be expressed or burieddeep within ourselves : we are ’present’ in a mysterious absence.
But the man was anxious to justify himself and said to Jesus, ’And who is my neighbour?’ In answer, Jesus said, ’A man was once on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of bandits; they stripped him, beat him and then made off, leaving him half dead. Now a priest happened to be travelling down the same road, but when he saw the man, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise, a Levite who came to the place saw him, and passed by on the other 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 animal, took him to an inn and cared for him. The next day, he took out two silver coins and handed them to him the innkeeper and said, ’Look after him, and on my way back I will make good any extra expense you have.“What are the reasons that prevent these men from being the wounded man’s neighbour? We often prefer to remain ’the centre’ and for this we can find many excuses : there is so much to be done! We are in a hurry for many good reasons. The foreigner that the Samaritan is will be the one who stops to take care of this man. When we take care of another, something within us tells us we like doing so . We are fundamentally in agreement with ’helping others’,and the meaning that helping another person expresses. When Jesus asks this man what the first commandment is, he really brings him out of the consideration of himself as being the centre of the world. How hard it is to put this commandment into practice.”Which of these three, do you think, proved himself a neighbour to the man who fell into the bandit’s hands?’ He replied, ’The one who showed pity towards him.’ Jesus said to him, ’Go, and do the same yourself."
We know that when we are taken up with compassion for other people we are a part of the human Family. We can’t harbour resentment, jealousy or bitterness and belong to Jesus’ family. We need to take the means to extract this poison from our hearts, it is such a subtle and deceitful indifference that makes us seem as though everything is alright. In fact, deep down in our hearts are hidden fears of suffering, of handicap, of being hurt and of death. Jesus turns the situation around : who was the neighbour of the man who hd been attacked and wounded by bandits? What was the other in need of? Who is this man’s neighbour? Jesus is the Good Samaritan who comes to deliver me, for I too am in a bad state. ’He saw him and was siezed with compassion.’ I will be able to change my family and community thanks to the compassion that fills God’s Heart and with which He fills my own heart. And so it will become a place of grace, a place of peace,a place where God’s Word will flow forth like a source.