THE LOVE OF NEIGHBOUR
(Contemplata aliis tradere)
FIFTEENTH SUNDAY YEAR C; DEUT 30:10-14; COL 1:15-20; LK 10:25-37
Prayer
Loving Spirit, flow from on high into our minds and graciously fill the
inmost being of your faithful that we may think worthily about so great a
mystery, the last judgment, and if we do have worthy thoughts, pour them
forth with eloquence. Use my voice as a trumpet to proclaim your word to
your people. May we be converted to you, O Lord, that your anger may not
overwhelm us. Amen.
To every passage of scripture, there is a literal and allegorical or spiritual
interpretation. The literal interpretation of the scripture points to the knowledge of the
text as it is. It speaks of the face value of the text: interpreting the text as it is. The
allegorical interpretation speaks of what is not immediately seen in the text; its
spiritual meaning usually hidden behind the letters. Because of these two
interpretations of the scripture, spiritual writers now speak of the spirit and the letter
of the bible text. The letter is the outward shell while the spirit is the inner yolk. The
letter of a text of scripture is a level of understanding that anyone who buys a bible
can understand, but the spirit of the text is only understood when the Holy Spirit
interprets the text for you. There is a difference between looking at the sea from the
outside and looking at it from the inside. When you look at it from the outside, the
water does not touch you. And you only see the periphery. The deep sea is hidden
from you. But when you look at the sea from the inside, you have an experience of the
touch of the sea. When you set yourself loose in it, it can even drown you. So is the
word of God, when you are led into its spiritual interpretation, you are touched by the
word; and if you allow yourself loose in it, it drowns you. Just as the drown man
becomes the sea and the sea the drown man, so will you become the word and the
word will become you. In this case, your life becomes a living witness.
For instance, in Acts of the Apostles (8:26-40), the scripture tells us that an Ethiopian
official was travelling from Jerusalem to Gaza, and on his way he was reading a text
from the prophet Isaiah: “Like a sheep led to the slaughter, like a lamb that makes no
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noise when its wool is cut off. He did not say a word”. The officer did not understand
more than he read. He only had a literal understanding of the text; he was at the level
of the letter of the text. The spirit of the text or the spiritual meaning was hidden from
him until the Holy Spirit sent Philip to lead him to a deeper grasp of the text. I pray
that this same Holy Spirit will lead us to the spirit of today’s text.
Today’s passage of scripture is one of those texts that have both a literal and spiritual
understanding. The face value only tells the story of a man moving from Jerusalem to
Jericho who was beaten by robbers and helped by a Samaritan; however, beneath this
surface level lies mysteries about the fall of Adam and Eve, the consequence of
original sin, the salvation offered by Jesus and the place of the Church in the
continuing work of salvation. We would play along both lines, moving from one
interpretation to the other.
1. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho: Historically, the road from Jerusalem to
Jericho was a very dangerous road. It was narrow, rocky by the sides and with
sharp bends. This made it easier for thieves to attack travellers and to escape
easily. St Jerome tells us in the 5th century that it was still called ‘The Red, or
Bloody Way’. Most of those who passed the road had to pay money to the local
sheiks for them to provide safety. People also travelled in convoys or caravans,
seeking safety in numbers. The nature of the road from Jerusalem to Jericho
speaks so much to my heart about the nature of the world. The world is
symbolized by the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. What happens on the way
from Jerusalem to Jericho is what happens in the world. There is someone who
awaits you at the winded and rocky roads of the world. He is eager to beat you
and strip you of God’s glory. Watch out!
2. The robber: The robber who stands at the road to terrorize travellers on their
way from Jerusalem to Jericho is the devil. Jesus in the gospel of John referred
to him as a thief when he said, “A thief comes only to steal, to kill and to
destroy” (Jn 10:10). When God in the book of Job asked the devil about where
he has been since the time he was sent out of heaven; the devil said, “I have
been moving up and down, roaming around the earth” (1:7). It is in this regard
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that St Peter teaches: “Be alert, be on the watch! Your enemy the devil is
roaming around like a roaring lion looking for someone to eat. Stand up to him
strong in faith” (1 Pet 5:8). He is like the robber who waits in the road from
Jerusalem to Jericho to attack travellers.
Why does the devil roam around the earth? From our knowledge of what
happened in the prehistoric times, handed down to us through scripture and
tradition. Long before the world was created, the angels were created in the
empyrean heavens and in a state of glory until the battle of heaven, which St
John describes in Revelation chapter 12:1ff. The holy angels willing to foster
the will of God fought Lucifer and his cohorts, following the war cry of
Archangel Michael Qui ut Deus (who is like unto God). Lucifer was thrown
down to the earth. “And there was great battle in heaven; Michael and the
angels fought with the dragon and his cohorts..., and the dragon was cast down
from heaven, that old serpent who is called the devil, who seduces the whole
world, he was cast unto the earth...but woe to you, earth and sea, for the devil
has come to you in anger”. The world is his territory. Several times does Jesus
speak of him as the Prince of this world: “Now the prince of this world is to be
overthrown” (Jn 12:31); “I cannot talk with you much longer because the
prince of this world is coming. He has no power over me...” (Jn 14:30);
“...because the ruler of this world has already been judged” (Jn 16:11). It is
only in the world (the road between Jerusalem and Jericho) that he manifests
his authority.
3. The wounded traveller: The scripture also tells us about the man who was on
his way from Jerusalem to Jericho. He was attacked by the robber: he was
stripped, beaten and left half-dead. This man was certainly unwittingly
courageous. No one dared to pass that road if he were alone and worse still if
he carried some valuables with him. This man obviously should have himself
to be blamed for his plight. The man who was attacked by robbers is Adam, the
father of all mankind. Adam fell into the hands of the devil and his cohorts.
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They stripped him of his glory, beat him and left him half-dead. The wound on
Adam is the effect of original sin.
With the fall of Adam and Eve came all the evils that make the life of the
human person a burden on earth: sickness, vices, hatred, jealousy, anger, lust,
deception, egoism, pride, prejudice and above all death (Gen 3:1ff). From the
time Adam and Eve failed, death came into the world. Just as Jesus speaks of
His Father as one who sends sunshine and rain on the righteous and
unrighteous (Mt 5:45), in the same way death strikes without discrimination. It
comes to all of us: rich and poor, famed and unsung, no matter how powerful
and celebrated we are, we cannot escape the power of death. Adam’s mistake
has become our weakness.
No man, born of a woman, living in this present tabernacle of flesh and blood
is beyond a fall. The divine provision God makes for a married man or woman,
to forestall his or her downfall in life is the spouse. Pitfalls that overwhelm us
are lined up by Satan on our path to glory. His plan is to devour you once you
slip into any of his snares, and if there is none to help you up at the time of a
fall, woe betide you. This is God’s foresight and wisdom in bringing the
woman into the life of the man. The pit the man does not see, the woman may
see and sound the alarm. Now you see why Satan seeks to separate husband
from their wives and to break the unity of Christian communities. He knows
that in their apartness, he can conquer them and so he sows discord which
eventually ends in divorce or division? When the devil came to tempt Adam
and Eve, Adam was away and Eve alone; he knew that if he had come when
they were together they would have constituted a strong force against him.
4. The Levites and priests: The priests and Levites who bypassed the traveller
speak of the Old Testament, full of ceremonies and laws, but not enough to
save man from the venom of Original Sin. Hebrews 10:1-12, speaks of the
inability of the old ceremonial rites to free mankind from sin. Only the blood of
the Lamb frees from the power of sin.
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5. The Samaritan man: Samaritans are those who are heretics and breakers of
the ceremonial laws. But in this case, who is the Samaritan? In the gospel of
John 8:48, the Jews called Jesus a Samaritan. The Samaritan is truly the person
of Jesus; He does not just have pity on the wounded man, He also applies the
cure for his wounds. Scripture spoke of the care of the Samaritan thus, “He
went over him, poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them; then he
put the man on his own animal and took him to an inn, where he took care of
him”. Through the sin of Adam and Eve, man lost his dignity. To help us
regain our dignity, Jesus came and united himself with humanity. By the
shedding of His Blood, we who are wounded are healed; as He suffers, we who
are sinners have our honour restored; as the innocent one, He paid a debt which
He did not honour, so that we who are debtors are set free.
6. The Inn: The inn to which the Samaritan brought the wounded traveller is the
Church of Christ. Before Christ left the world, He formed the Church that she
may restore energy to those who are wounded by sin. The innkeepers are the
hierarchy of the Church to whom Christ gave the responsibility to care for His
flock. Jesus handed over souls to the church when he said to Peter, “Feed my
lamb”; “Tend my sheep”; “Feed my sheep” (Jn 21:15, 16, 17).
7. The two coins paid: The two coins which the Samaritan paid for the care of
the man refers to the Gospel message and the Sacraments of the Church. The
gospel proclaimed to the souls of men and women gives life and courage until
Jesus comes. Through the sacraments, the souls of the sons and daughters of
Adam are prepared for Jesus’ second coming.
8. The return of the Samaritan: The return spoken of by the Samaritan man is
the return of the Son of man at the end of time, when He will come in His glory
to judge the living and the dead. Then He would reward his ministers who have
taken care of His own. When the Samaritan gave the coins he said, “Take care
of him, and when I come back this way, I will pay you whatever else you spend
on him”.
THE LOVE OF NEIGHBOUR
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The message of this parable is the message of love of neighbour. An expert of the law
came to Jesus asking “And who is my neighbour?” Jesus used the parable to tell him
who his neighbour is. The answer of Jesus has three lessons:
a. Christians are called to give help, even to those who are the cause of their own
problem. The traveller was foolhardy; he neglected the need for a travelling
companion and so fell into the hands of robbers. So were Adam and Eve; their
sin was their own fault. God had commanded them not to touch the fruit of the
tree of knowledge and evil. But they admired it. They touched it and ate it. But
still God loved them and sent his only begotten Son to redeem us. The people
of Israel failed God through idolatry; and because of their sins they were sent
into exile, but still God loved them and brought them back to Jerusalem. This is
the love of God and the love God wants us to possess. This is the kind of love
we are called to give.
b. Our love must not be limited to a particular people. Anyone we see in need is
our neighbour. Our love must be as wide as the love of God. The Essenes of
Qumran, for example, required new members to swear to love the children of
light and hate the children of darkness. For them, your neighbour is the one
who shares the same religious persuasion as yourself. Other groups, such as the
Zealots, would understand neighbour to include only those who shared the
same nationality and ethnicity with them. The average Jew would not regard
the Samaritan as a neighbour. They are outsiders. Like the average Jew, most
of us discriminate against people who are not of our tribe and language.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where people want to associate with the
successful, the rich, the influential and talented. What then becomes of the rest
of humanity who do not share in any of these? They live in despair and
Isolation. This is not the love of Christ.
c. Our help to those in need must be practical and not just a thing of feeling sorry.
Practical steps must be taken to help the person in need. What God requires of
you is not your pity towards the poor. He wants a concrete action taken. The
issue is not, ‘when I was naked you had pity on me’, but ‘you clothed me’. The
words of St James is quite instructive in this regard, “What use is it if one of
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your brothers or sisters is in need of clothes and has not enough food to live on,
and one of you says to them, ‘I wish you well; keep yourself warm and eat
plenty’, without giving them those bare necessities of life? Compassion, like
faith, if good deeds do not go with it, is quite dead” (James 2:15-17). Give
people confidence: there are so many people who have a deep seated insecure
because of their experience of the past and the uncertainty of the future.
Certainly, the robbed man has lost confidence in human beings because of his
experience, but the Good Samaritan restored this confidence by his love. Let us
make people feel special: we must complement one another’s effort. Mary Kay
Ash said, “Everyone has an invisible sign hanging around their neck saying,
‘Make me feel important’”. Give people hope: there are so many people who
live in hopelessness, it is our responsibility to give them hope. Understand
people: there are so many people who are not yet understood because no one
has listened to them. If people’s life must be changed, they must first be
understood. Be a role model: the greatest needs of the world are role models.
People who would show others the light by their teaching and way of life. The
world is dying in morals because there are no role models.
What Jesus told the expert of the law, He tells each and every one of us: ‘go and do
likewise’.
Once again, the treasure box has been opened and the beauty of Christ has been
revealed.
Grace, peace and love be with you all. Amen
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