Dss. Norma P. Dollaga
KASIMBAYAN

Deut 30:10-14
Psalm 69:14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36, 37    
Colossians 1:15-20       
Luke 10:25-37  

A scholar of the law ( lawyer ) came to Jesus and wanted an inheritance. He wanted to have eternal life and sought the advice of Jesus .   Jesus simply asked him,  “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”

The  scholar answered Jesus.

Jesus  replied to him, “You have answered correctly; Do this and you will live.”

Unsettled with his response, he pressed further with another question,  “And who is my neighbor?” (Sino ang aking kapwa?)

Jesus led the scholar not with an expected Scriptural provision. Instead of offering a legal definition, Jesus tells a story. Jesus,  who was so immersed  with people, must have known so many stories from the ground. So he narrated an anecdote to answer the scholar.

There was no “Good”  Samaritan in the text. There was just a Samaritan who  Jesus lifted up or we lifted up and by tradition in our Sunday School classes designated him as a  “Good” Samaritan. 

Brian P. Stoffregen in  Exegetical Notes states, “The idea of being a “Good Samaritan” is so common in our culture that most people today don’t realize that ‘Good Samaritan” would have been an oxymoron to a first-century Jew.”   The Jews looked down on the Samaritans as impure. For the Jews, the assumption was there  were no GOOD Samaritans.

In the story, there was a victim , passersby,  an innkeeper , and a donkey.

There was a victim .  Robbed and left by the assailants,  almost half-dead.

The first passerby was a priest who evaded the victim. He must be afraid to be involved and perhaps had to rush perhaps to catch up with the busyness of his priestly duties. By stopping by, he might be delayed for his duties or spoil his agenda set for the day.

A second passerby was a  Levite, who went to the other side. Perhaps, it was legally  proper to avoid to touch a    dead man that would make him ceremonially unclean.

Both reasons were governed by the religious tradition.  To be unclean and be involved in that situation would probably cause their own security and life. These were something  they were unwilling to sacrifice.  To be afraid is understandable. Self-preservation is a  natural reaction of any human being. To veer away from a perceived danger  is an expected response to save  life.

They have abided  the law by avoiding the “neighbor.”   

The scene unfolds with a man left for dead by robbers. Both, bound by religious customs and perhaps the fear of ritual impurity or personal danger, avoided the injured man. Their actions, while perhaps legally permissible within their traditions, demonstrate a clear unwillingness to sacrifice their own comfort or security to save another person. Their self-preservation, while understandable, has forgotten compassion.

The third passerby was a Samaritan.

Now, in Jesus’ time, there was a relational strain between  Jews and Samaritans. They were not considered as “neighbors”     to be loved in accordance with the commandment in the scripture.  In the story, Jesus establishes the unexpected.  He surprised the Jews by introducing a character who was not “good” but a Samaritan.

Obviously, Jesus was setting a scenario that the scholar (lawyer) had least anticipated .  The one who was most likely to inherit  life was the unexpected – the enemy, the other, the despised- the  Samaritan.

 The one who was robbed and injured was the neighbor. Unknown. Naked. Almost dead.  The Samaritan,  who perhaps had known the danger of approaching the victim,  risked  his time, his resources, and endangered his life.  He saw the victim with compassion. He patched up his wound,  in the manner of ceremonially healing him using precious wine and oil, and lifted him using his own donkey.  He brought him to  an inn  ,  deposited an amount, and promised the innkeeper that he would come back if the amount given would not suffice. This is a trust issue as well. Perhaps he had been doing it several times, so the innkeeper agreed, or he was known to have resources, so it looked like he had a credit line with the inn.

The conversation between Jesus and the scholar  ended with, the question of Jesus. “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”  Repeat: The one – is the enemy, the other, the despised- the  Samaritan.

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

 How to be a neighbor and Who is our neighbor , are the questions we now face .

FATHER RUDY ROMANO: A NEIGHBOR   WHO SHOWED COMPASSION TO ANOTHER NEIGHBOR  

The Gospel reading is an invitation to ponder upon the life of Fr. Rudy Romano, a Redemptorist priest. 

 July 11 , this   year  is the 40^th  anniversary of the abduction and disappearance of  Fr. Rudy Romano, CSsR.  He was a  priest  who was deeply engaged in justice and peace  work.  During the years of Martial Law, he was one among the priests who dared to challenge the dictator  . As a religious, he  sided with the victims of human rights violations and remained steadfast in pursuing the cause of justice.  As a priest, he was known to be a defender of exploited workers. He journeyed with slum dwellers, fought with landless peasants, and other sectors of society who  were made poor and oppressed by unjust structures.

 We remember Fr. Rudy Romano as one of the martyrs of our land. His life is a testimony of  taking seriously the work and mission of the Church even at the most critical episode of our nation’s life.  He had spoken when it was most comfortable to stay quiet and prayerful. He stood with the poor and struggling people when it was most convenient to restrict one’s commitment to meditation and reflection. He offered his immaculate vest and   was undisturbed by the filth and dirt that soiled his garb as he took the muddy narrow path of siding with the exploited.

Certainly, if he was still living today, he would decide in favor of democracy, human rights  and the welfare of the people. He would not find it hard to stand up and express his bias, because he was nearest to the people after God’s own heart- the poor, the victims of injustice and structural and systemic violence.   

He must have internalized the way of loving our neighbor, and by being a neighbor to the victims. His life echoes the profound truth found in Deuteronomy 30:11-14:

“For this command that I enjoin on you today

is not too mysterious and remote for you.

It is not up in the sky, that you should say,

‘Who will go up in the sky to get it for us

and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?’

Nor is it across the sea, that you should say,

‘Who will cross the sea to get it for us

and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?’

No, it is something very near to you,

already in your mouths and in your hearts;

you have only to carry it out.”

When was the last time  we  have encountered a  “neighbor”  , and we have chosen  to  become a neighbor to our kapwa?