15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today's Gospel is Luke 10:25-37 and it we have the wonderful story of the Good Samaritan. Actually, the one who asks Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"is a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus. Then Jesus tells us how a man fell victim to robbers; a priest and a Levite saw him but do not stop. It is when a Samaritan comes and sees him and is moved with compassion and approaches the victim, treated his wounds, lifted him up on his own animal and takes him to an inn to be cared for and gave the innkeeper money with the promise that he would pay more on his return if the man needed to stay longer to recover. After telling the story, Jesus asks: "Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers' victim?" There is, of course, only one answer - the one who treated him with mercy. Then Jesus tells us, "Go and do likewise."

I fear that I am often like the priest who avoids helping; even when I stop to aid someone, I am not as generous as the Samaritan. This is a story that we all need to reflect on often!