The parable of the Good Samaritan

 

By Manila Bulletin

Published Jul 13, 2025 12:05 am

REFLECTIONS TODAY

Gospel • Luke 10:25-37

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” He replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him.

The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’ Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?” He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Who proves ‘neighbor’ to the victim?

In his encyclical Fratelli Tutti (“Brothers All”)—on Fraternity and Social Friendship—Pope Francis draws a parallelism from the various characters in Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan. The parable begins with the robbers who waylay a traveler, strips and beats him, and leaves him half-dead.

In our world today, they represent those who use violence, trickery, and lies in order to oppress, dominate, and exploit others for their own advantage. These robbers can come from fellow poor or the rich alike—like the petty thieves, pickpockets, terrorists, kidnappers, human traffickers, corrupt politicians, and unscrupulous capitalists—that is, anyone who enrich themselves at the expense of others. “We have seen, descending on our world, the dark shadows of neglect and violence in the service of petty interests of power, gain and division” (FT, 72).

The priest and the Levite see the victim, but pass on the opposite side. They surmise that the man is dead, and touching him may render them unclean. Pope Francis says that they are the “passersby” of our era, people afflicted with indifference or insensitivity, a great malady and sickness that separates people. Pope Francis notes: “There are many ways to pass by at a safe distance: we can retreat inwards, ignore others, or be indifferent to their plight. Or simply look elsewhere, as in some countries, or certain sectors of them, where contempt is shown for the poor and their culture, and one looks the other way, as if a development plan imported from without could edge them out. This is how some justify their indifference: the poor, whose pleas for help might touch their hearts, simply do not exist. The poor are beyond the scope of their interest” (FT, 73).

Thirdly, there is the Samaritan traveler, a “stranger” to the victim by reason of his ethnicity and religious affiliation. And yet, he is the one moved with compassion and attends to the wounded man. He is the one who proves neighbor to the robbers’ victim. Jesus then tells his questioner, a scholar of the Law, to go and do likewise.

Pope Francis writes that like St. Francis of Assisi, we can build a society based on harmony and love that transcend the barriers of geography and distance, and declares blessed all those who love their brother (FT, 1). He urges us to imitate the Good Samaritan: “In the face of so much pain and suffering, our only course is to imitate the Good Samaritan. Any other decision would make us either one of the robbers or one of those who walked by without showing compassion for the sufferings of the man on the roadside.

The parable shows us how a community can be rebuilt by men and women who identify with the vulnerability of others, who reject the creation of a society of exclusion, and act instead as neighbors, lifting up and rehabilitating the fallen for the sake of the common good” (FT, 67).

Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2025.” E-mail: publishing@stpauls.ph; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.