WATCHWORD:
30 Jesus said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ Luke 10:30-35
Meditation:
It’s Your Life…
I’ve been thinking about the parable of the good Samaritan, and specifically about what caused this man from Samaria, who was possibly a merchant and maybe a tough-minded seller of goods, to reach out, and get his hands dirty and save a life. I was wondering how many times have I passed by on the other side, not electing to get my hands dirty or leave my comfort zone.
Passing by on the other side is an easy out. It is similar to saying, I haven’t got time for this, or, perhaps, I’m not qualified, or, I could get sued or a disease, etc. I guess you could say that passing by on the other side is all too common. We have all done it at one time or another. We divert our eyes, we cross over to the other side of the street. We don’t want to be inconvenienced. Or, we reason, why should I get involved in someone else’s problems? All legitimate thoughts and yet…where is the humanity?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his book Life Together, says “we must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions. Or perhaps the pandemic sticks its ugly head into our plans and we have no choice but to adjust. Bonhoeffer goes on to say that how we react to those “interruptions” is a measure of our humanity, of our values, and the strength of our faith.
Murray Bodo, Franciscan Priest and Author, in one of his essays tells us that “life is a gift for giving away.” I like that, but, we tend to hoard it and we hold it close. Maybe we fear that giving a piece of our life would diminish us, somehow, make us less of a person. Bodo continues – “Once you throw it from yourself and lift your spirit up, nothing you do matters quite so much as freedom from life, returning again and haunting you to be someone else instead of no one.” Once we have decided not to “pass on the other side”, and maybe get our hands a bit dirty, we are not the same person.
Once you have freed the “gift of giving”, it feeds on itself, it grows, it becomes contagious. Your eyesight improves, you see where using your life-gift can matter. Your heart, too, grows and motivates you to reach out, to spend life energy, to lift that person up to be part of humanity. And, in that process, you are lifted up.
Folks, God has gifted us without measure, and yet, we act like our gifts are of our own creation. The gifts that we call ours, are from God and we are to use them, in His service. There is a little piece of the “Good Samaritan” in each one of us. When you give away God’s gifts, you discover you are richer for it. Be at peace. Give your life away!
Closing Prayer:
Lord Jesus, You teach us in your parable that there are two kinds of people–those who bend down to help and those who look the other way. Which kind of people will we be? We say, “Yes, Lord, I will love you and love my neighbor.” But then we ask: The migrant… is she my neighbor? Those in poverty…are they my neighbors? Victims of war across the world… are they neighbors? One who faces racism… is he my neighbor? Those disabled or elderly… are they my neighbors? You remind us: Yes. All of us neighbors. Show us how to love, Lord. May we open our eyes. May we emerge from our comfortable isolation. May we build a world of compassion and dignity. Lord Jesus, who was neighbor to all, Help us to persevere in love. Help us to restore dignity to the suffering. Help us to build a society based not on exclusion, but on community. Amen.
