Reflection on the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time

This weekend's Gospel reading contains perhaps one of the most famous of parables - the Good Samaritan. The parable is told as a response to the question "Who is my neighbor that I am to love?". Jesus tells the story that would have stung the minds and hearts of the Jewish listeners. A man falls victim to robbers while traveling down the treacherous road to Jericho. He is left for dead. The fact that the priest and Levite pass by was not necessarily because they did not care, but rather did not wish to become 'unclean' by touching blood at the least or perhaps even a dead man. If they did, they would not be able to participate in the activities in the Temple area. But the third passerby was Samaritan - the descendant of the remainder of the Jewish people left in the land during the Babylonian exile who intermarried the pagans in the area, thus in the eyes of the Jews who eventually returned, half-breeds who polluted and diluted the Jewish law and practice. This Samaritan sees the man and tends to the wounds with the medicines of the time (wine as an acid/alcohol would cleanse the wound, while oil would have a salve quality to keep air out of the wound). He takes the man, on his own beast, to Jericho, and checks him into the inn and vowing to pay anything that is left on his return. So Jesus asks who was the neighbor - it is the one who helped, despite political/geographic/cultural/religious differences.

One of my favorite interpretations of this by an early Church Father (but I cannot remember who at this time) tells us that Jesus is the Samaritan, who comes to us and rescues us from the ravages of the world. He heals us, and carries us on the cross, and will return!

So what does this tell about a vocation? We are not sent just to people around us, but to all in need. We are called to bring the healing of Jesus Christ to everyone, even those that would not naturally be our neighbor. We need to move out of our comfort zones to care for others - to get dirt under our fingernails, as a friend put it. The days of pampered priests is over (if it ever existed). I am overwhelmed by the stories of the pioneer priests who labored in our country, even giving their lives, for the people they were called to serve. Are we willing to become a neighbor?