Neighbors without Borders!

 (Homily 15^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr. C)

Neighborliness is not a quality in other people, it is simply their claim on ourselves. We have literally no time to sit down and ask ourselves whether so and so is our neighbor or not. We must get into action and obey; we must behave like a neighbor to him. (D. Bonhoeffer)

    The central message of today’s readings revolves around the theme of the nearness of God to humanity. In the first reading He is near to us through his commandment and word. In the second reading we see the most sublime closeness and nearness through His Son Jesus Christ, who even when man and woman distanced themselves from this closeness through sin, He reconciled and rectified us with the Father through His Blood. The Gospel rather presents Him as our Neighbor. Jesus is indeed the perfect Neighbor to humanity. By means of this, the readings of today set in motion the vertical and horizontal dimensions of religion. These two dimensions hinge on the theme of Love and orchestrated in the communication of this love, not just as an abstract concept, but as a concrete action, for we are called to do the same. For this, the first reading sets in motion God’s communication of his love to humanity, not by imposition of his commandments; rather He implants them right in the heart. More than that, the unthinkable risk and the unexplainable compassion demonstrated by the Samaritan in Jesus’ Parable reveals the extent God went and goes in communicating his love to humanity, it is indeed, the extremity of love (cf. Jn. 13:1). On its part, the second reading presents Jesus as the image of the invisible God (the perfect communication of God), the locus of cosmic fullness and the “reconciliator” of all. Jesus is indeed God’s most complete communication of Himself, and just like the parabolic Samaritan, He continues to care and heal the wounds of the wounded humanity!

      The first reading (Deut. 30:10-14) presents a part of Moses’ farewell speech in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy repeatedly emphasizes God's undying and unchanging love for his people, and from this perspective urges its hearers to respond (love of God and neighbor). This passage is a sermon that urges Israel to renew their covenant with God, and it does appear it was composed during the exilic period. Therein, it talks about the concept of law that is no longer written on tables of stones, but engraved on the heart (cf. Jer.31:33). In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul made reference to this passage, especially this verse: “No, the word is very near to you, it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to put into practice” (v.14) in relation to the Gospel, the righteousness that comes through faith and the event of Christ, “What does it say, then? The word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith, the faith which we preach, that if you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and if you believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved” (Rm. 10:8-9). This passage connects us well to the Gospel narrative, for in the person of Jesus, God became very near and close to humanity. Little wonder, this passage speaks prophetically of the word of God that is very close to us, even inside us, in our mouth and in our heart. The psalmist puts it fittingly well thus: “The Lord is close to those who seek him”.

     This Gospel periscope (Lk. 10:25-37) is not just an allegorical presentation, but underneath, it presents the history of Salvation, without which the parable cannot be understood deeply. As such, it can only be properly understood in and through the Person of Christ, the Savior of humanity. It presents two protagonists, a doctor of the Law of Moses and Jesus. But their dialogue proceeds on two different levels. The doctor of law proceeds purely from a theoretical view point, from an abstract dimension of someone who wants to acquire knowledge, someone who wants to discuss, may be with the scope of putting his interlocutor into some difficulties. His first question to Jesus goes thus: “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" (v.25), afterwards he asked: "And who is my neighbor?" (v.29). On the other hand, we see Jesus, who did not reject the theoretical discussion, but in answering him he proceeds from a practical and concrete stand point. He wanted to bring him from the theoretical to the concrete dimension, from abstract words and questions to action.

    The doctor of Law that asked Jesus who is my neighbor, was grappling with a serious problem that was confronting the Israelites at that time, because there was the question of who an Israelite has to consider as his neighbor, some were considering only their immediate neighbors and their countrymen, while others are seen as enemies. The essence of the question of this doctor of the law was to ascertain where does the obligation of loving one’s neighbors ends and who has to be included in this category? Jesus in his response expanded the horizon of the interrogator; he helped him to pass from the law to the Gospel. The response is: There is no limit. The category for neighborhood is universal, for it indicates man (and woman) not just ones relatives and friends. Jesus equally used a Jew and a Samaritan to respond to the provocation, because at that time the two (Jews and Samaritans) were enemies. In response to his first question, Jesus makes reference to the same Law of Moses: "What is written in the law? How do you read?" (v.26). And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself" (v.27). He responded well, but Jesus still trying to bring him to the realm of action tells him: “do this and you will live” (v.28). He tells him to act, to concretize his knowledge. It is not knowledge that saves, but action. Good deeds make the difference!

   Then, here comes the focal question: Who is my neighbor? (the second question of the doctor of law). Who should I consider to be my neighbor? According some Judaic currents of thought you can make some distinctions on this. Once again we can observe that the desire to discuss is prevalent in this doctor. But Jesus goes to the concrete, he narrated to him one of the best parables of the Gospel: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, (the road that from Jerusalem to Jericho is in reality a lonely and dangerous road) and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead” (v.30). “A man”: whoever he is, is not important, therefore a neighbor is any man (or woman) I encounter on my way, any one in need of my help. “A man” here is a universal representation of every man/woman, especially anyone in need. I would like us to repeat the same question in our hearts: “who is my neighbor?” Now, of course we can readily say someone in need, however, at times my neighbor is not far-fetched, your neighbor may be your husband that you have neglected for some time now, your wife that you do not care if she is existing, your parents that for you are useless.

     Once Jesus clarified the question of who is my neighbor, he emphasizes that the important thing is to make oneself a neighbor to the man in need, to reach out first to the person, like the Samaritan in that parable, who saw that man on the road and “when he saw him, he had compassion” (v.33); “went to him and bound up his wounds…and took care of him” (v. 34). Similarly, Jesus concludes here by telling the doctor “Go and do likewise” (v.37). But today He is repeating it to each and every one of us. Let us reflect on the actions of the Good Samaritan: “he had compassion”, in the Gospel of Luke the verb used to indicate this, is a technical word to indicate a divine action. The first three gestures of the Good Samaritan: see, stop and touch, describe the first three merciful actions. To see: he saw him, he had compassion. He saw the wounds. To stop: to stop one’s movement, one’s journey. To touch: the Samaritan went to him, pouring oil and wine. Generally in the Gospel, whenever Jesus is moved with pity, he stops to touch, to demonstrate that love is not just an emotive fact, it is an action-word.

    Commenting on the precept, Jesus explains; if you love those who love you what merit do you have? Even pagans do the same. Jesus here refers us the Father who loves even the unjust (cf. Mt. 5:43-48), who equally loved us when we were still enemies and sinners (cf. Rm. 5:6-8). With the response and explanation of Jesus, the problem of the doctor of the law was reversed, from an abstract and intellectual problem to a concrete problem; the question is no longer who my neighbor is? But who do I make myself a neighbor to? Then, here comes the second point of the Parable: how do I make myself a neighbor to the other? And indeed from the actions of the Samaritan emerge a glaring response; we love with facts not with words, here the exhortation of St. John becomes eminent: “Children, our love must be not just words or mere talk, but something active and genuine” (1Jn. 3:18). The Samaritan did not resolve to give empty words of encouragement, rather he acted. In fact, as St. James would say: “If one of the brothers or one of the 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 these bare necessities of life, then what good is that?” (Jm. 2:15-16). To love as Jesus demands, one has to be disposed to spend not only what he/she has but also oneself; that is what a good number of the saints in the history of the Church did. Many a times it is very easy to thread the path of the priest and the Levite. The priest probably didn't want to risk the possibility of ritual impurity. His piety handicapped his sense of charity. And the Levite must have been afraid of really stopping to help, thinking that it was a set-up of some bandits, so his consciousness for personal security overshadowed his sense of compassion and love. Many a times we are or we have acted like them. At last, the Parable of Jesus passes from the category of words and a mere parable to an existential reality and invitation: Go and do the same! This parable has to be incarnated in the reality of our everyday life. “Faith without work is dead” (Jm. 2:26).

     In the second reading (Col. 1:15-20) Jesus gives us a sublime example. He is the incarnation of the Good Samaritan in its highest expression. Jesus as St. Paul presented “is the image of the invisible God, for in him all things were created… and in him all things hold together”. The first part of this passage is a Christological hymn that speaks of Christ as the image of God and as the agent of creation and preservation. The second part picks up the theme of redemption. In St. Paul’s parlance, as the pre-existent wisdom, Christ was the first-born of creation, and as the risen One he is the first-born of the dead. Behold, this divine wisdom becomes incarnate in Jesus, and his incarnation reaches its climax on the cross, which is the source of reconciliation, and peace. Just like the Good Samaritan he bandaged the wounds of the fallen humanity. Indeed, he made himself our neighbor at the point humanity was in an existential confusion, he made himself our neighbor to the point of becoming one of us. He carried us on his shoulders and raised us from our miserable condition of sin at the prize of his Blood. He is the Good Samaritan Per excellence!

     In all, there can be no love of God without love of neighbor. And conversely, there is no authentic love of neighbor that does not spring from love of God. To love your neighbor does not mean you may love some people but not others, rather it means: be a neighbor to another, not just by indulging in mere sentiments, but doing concrete acts. Above all, the invitation of Jesus: You go and do the same, is not primarily a moral demand, rather a demand of faith. I deem it plausible to conclude with the invitatory words of St. John thus: “My dear people, since God has loved us so much, then we too should love one another” (1Jn. 4:11).

(Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)