The Good Samaritan
The Good Samaritan, from a despised race, is the model of charity
It is LIKELY that when the lawyer, spoken of in this parable, of the Good Samaritan, asked our Lord what he must do to gain eternal life, he had in mind performing one extraordinary act that would insure his salvation. Christ referred him to the Law, which commanded him to love God with his whole heart, soul, and strength and to love his neighbor as himself. To this man, an average Jew, his neighbor would have been a relative or friend, not an enemy or a stranger. It would never have been a Samaritan, whom he would have hated and considered a heretic and idolater. A Jew would have been shocked to hear a hated Samaritan referred to as a neighbor.
In the story told by Christ it is precisely one of these hated Samaritans who becomes a neighbor to the man who was robbed and beaten. The Samaritan did not hesitate to use his costly supply of wine and oil or to give two days' wages for whatever care the Jew would require in his absence. In this Christ clearly showed that charity is not to be limited to those of our own race or creed, but that it must extend to anyone in need, and therefore to all mankind.
Our opportunities for being a "good Samaritan" may never be as dramatic as performing an act of mercy on the battlefield. But if we respond to the needs of neighbors, relatives or strangers or to the suffering of enemy and alien nations, if we love them and have compassion on them and pray for them, we are good neighbors.
"Go and do thou also in like manner."
LUKE 10:37
THE HATED Samaritan was the hero of Christ's parable; hated outcasts have been Christian heroes through all the ages of the Church. Some have been officially recognized by the Church as saints.
SAINT BENEDICT THE MOOR (1526-1589), son of Negro slaves, was born at San Fradello near Messina, Sicily. By the age of 10 he was already being called "the holy Moor." About the age of 21 he joined, and later became the superior of, a group of solitaries who were living according to the spirit of Saint Francis. When this group chose to join the Franciscans, Benedict became a simple lay-brother. Though lacking in education, he again became a superior, and later a novice master. Before his death, at the age of 63, he had gone back to humbler tasks— working in the monastery kitchen.
BLESSED MARTIN DE PORRES (1569-1639) was born in Lima, Peru, of a Spanish knight, John de Porres, and an Indian woman from Panama. Having inherited the features and dark complexion of his mother, this half-caste son was so distasteful to his own father that the boy was eventually turned away from home. For a time Martin earned his living as a barber-surgeon. Then, having joined the Third Order of Saint Dominic in Lima, he was put in charge of the monastery infirmary. His care of the sick extended far beyond its walls; it was due to his efforts that an orphanage and foundling hospital were set up in the city. Along with these tasks, he served the poor who came to the monastery daily and cared for the Negro slaves, who had been brought to Peru from Africa. Martin died in Lima on November 3, 1639, and was beatified by Pope Gregory XVI in 1837.
It is LIKELY that when the lawyer, spoken of in this parable, of the Good Samaritan, asked our Lord what he must do to gain eternal life, he had in mind performing one extraordinary act that would insure his salvation. Christ referred him to the Law, which commanded him to love God with his whole heart, soul, and strength and to love his neighbor as himself. To this man, an average Jew, his neighbor would have been a relative or friend, not an enemy or a stranger. It would never have been a Samaritan, whom he would have hated and considered a heretic and idolater. A Jew would have been shocked to hear a hated Samaritan referred to as a neighbor.
In the story told by Christ it is precisely one of these hated Samaritans who becomes a neighbor to the man who was robbed and beaten. The Samaritan did not hesitate to use his costly supply of wine and oil or to give two days' wages for whatever care the Jew would require in his absence. In this Christ clearly showed that charity is not to be limited to those of our own race or creed, but that it must extend to anyone in need, and therefore to all mankind.
Our opportunities for being a "good Samaritan" may never be as dramatic as performing an act of mercy on the battlefield. But if we respond to the needs of neighbors, relatives or strangers or to the suffering of enemy and alien nations, if we love them and have compassion on them and pray for them, we are good neighbors.
"Go and do thou also in like manner."
LUKE 10:37
THE HATED Samaritan was the hero of Christ's parable; hated outcasts have been Christian heroes through all the ages of the Church. Some have been officially recognized by the Church as saints.
SAINT BENEDICT THE MOOR (1526-1589), son of Negro slaves, was born at San Fradello near Messina, Sicily. By the age of 10 he was already being called "the holy Moor." About the age of 21 he joined, and later became the superior of, a group of solitaries who were living according to the spirit of Saint Francis. When this group chose to join the Franciscans, Benedict became a simple lay-brother. Though lacking in education, he again became a superior, and later a novice master. Before his death, at the age of 63, he had gone back to humbler tasks— working in the monastery kitchen.
BLESSED MARTIN DE PORRES (1569-1639) was born in Lima, Peru, of a Spanish knight, John de Porres, and an Indian woman from Panama. Having inherited the features and dark complexion of his mother, this half-caste son was so distasteful to his own father that the boy was eventually turned away from home. For a time Martin earned his living as a barber-surgeon. Then, having joined the Third Order of Saint Dominic in Lima, he was put in charge of the monastery infirmary. His care of the sick extended far beyond its walls; it was due to his efforts that an orphanage and foundling hospital were set up in the city. Along with these tasks, he served the poor who came to the monastery daily and cared for the Negro slaves, who had been brought to Peru from Africa. Martin died in Lima on November 3, 1639, and was beatified by Pope Gregory XVI in 1837.
posted by Big Heavy | 5:50 PM
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