In Sunday’s Gospel text we are told that a man set out on a journey from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he gets attacked by robbers and, we read, is stripped and beaten and left half dead.
Sadly, in our beloved country, this is not an unfamiliar scene. Many are robbed, stripped and beaten every day. We know that the crime levels in South Africa are high. But, this parable, may not only be about being robbed, stripped and beaten in the physical sense. Many people are robbed of the basics of life, stripped of their dignity and beaten by the
circumstances they find themselves in. This leaves them feeling spiritually and psychologically half dead, on the side of the road of life.
To make matters worse many who are robbed, stripped and beaten feel like they are unseen and unnoticed. They are passed by, left on the side of the road – especially by those who could, potentially, make a difference – the priests and Levites (in Jesus’ times the Levites assisted in the public worship of the people, they were musicians, guardians and judges in
the Temple). In our own context there are also ‘priests’ and ‘Levites’ – those who hold public office, ministers, those who have who could all make a difference but choose not to.
A Samaritan comes along, we are told, and stops to help him. Jesus’ hearers would have been shocked to hear that this person stopped – the Jews did not care for the Samaritans and kept them far away. Yet, this disliked outcast stops to help when he comes across this half dead man.
Often we hear that we must be like good Samaritans and help others. Fr James Martin SJ reminds us that it is not just about helping others. He says that the beaten man’s salvation depends on one whom he considers to be “other” – on one that he might even have treated with scorn himself.
In a world of so much disparity, of so much robbing, stripping and beating, who might be the “other” that Jesus is inviting you to reach out to and help today? The “other” Jesus could be prompting you help might be a foreigner, someone of another race, a member of the LGBTI community or someone that might have been judged and is therefore estranged from the
faith community. How will you make a difference – or not? Are you willing to risk – like the Samaritan and Jesus himself – helping someone who is considered “other”?
