Homily: who do you struggle to love?

Who is my neighbor?  A great question asked to Jesus in today’s Gospel.

This parable breaks through every prejudice that exists.  It tears through every hatred or resentment we may hold toward another person or group of people.

Why do I say this?

Because this parable points to one of the most fundamental teachings of the Christian faith: every human person is my neighbor, because every person is created in the image and likeness of God.

Even if a person may have made a wrong choice, committed a crime, offended or hurt you deeply, that person is still your neighbor, because he or she is a child of God.  One in need of repentance, certainly, yet still a child of God worthy of love and respect.

As Christians, even if I cannot repair a broken relationship, or if someone has done me great harm, I recognize that God has not given up on that person, and I can pray that the person finds repentance and forgiveness.

This parable cuts through all animosity between people, because the most despised person by the Jews, the least expected to perform an act of charity, a Samaritan, is the hero of the story.  The name by which this parable has come to be known, the Good Samaritan, would be incomprehensible to a Jewish person of the time of Jesus – the only Samaritan was a bad Samaritan.  Samaritans were considered “half-breeds”, half-Jew and half-Pagan, unwelcomed in Jerusalem and unworthy of any benefit of society.

The answer to the question “who is my neighbor” is not “the beat-up man on the ground.”  The answer to the question is, “your neighbor is the Samaritan, that one you dislike and wish would go away.”  The person you really dislike, that’s your neighbor.

When I first arrived to Corpus Christi, two families chose to leave the parish before meeting me.  They decided to leave the parish the moment they learned the new pastor was Hispanic.  That was enough for them to make a judgement, and to act on it.

Not very long ago, here in South Georgia, black people had to sit in separate waiting rooms, attended separate schools, had to live in certain neighborhoods and were systematically discriminated against. My grandmother came to South Georgia from Peru in the 1950s for my aunt to be treated at Warm Springs Hospital, the same hospital where President Roosevelt received his polio treatments.  Several times I heard my grandmother describe how scandalized she was seeing, how blacks and whites were strictly segregated in the United States, and that black people were treated as subhuman.

Who is my neighbor?

I often wonder if Jesus’ call to love others as he teaches in today’s parable comes naturally to us, or if it’s part of our supernatural calling as Christians.

Moses said in today’s first reading, that we must keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord – and that these are very near to us – already in our mouths and in our hearts.

Our own conscience can certainly guide us in our actions and decisions, serving as a measuring stick.  Yet, we so often fall short of our own personal expectations, others’ expectations and most importantly, God’s expectations.

God calls us to recognize the goodness in others at all times.  To celebrate what is right with the world.  Yet, this does not always come easy.

What have I done to speak for the dignity of the unborn?  What have I done to ensure the incarcerated are well fed and cared for?  How do I speak of those I disagree with?  Do I hold any kind of prejudice or racist attitude?  Do I consider any person or group of people as subhuman, devoid of any rights?  What person or group of people do I find impossible to love or show compassion toward?

For seven consecutive years, I visited the ICE detention center in Folkston, Georgia.  Still today, Mass is celebrated there weekly, along with a weekly Bible Study.  When I went, it was with Bishop Hartmayer for a huge celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  About 400 men gathered in the basketball court on a cold December night, and we would hold baptisms, confirmations and first communions.  Most of the catechists were inmates themselves, and they organized a band to play the Mass.

Who is my neighbor?

We cannot allow others to tell us who is our neighbor and who is our enemy.  Jesus is clear, our neighbor includes even those I struggle to love or accept.  That is the challenge of the Gospel, to recognize God’s fingerprints in every single human person.

As the Jews struggled to love the Samaritans, who do you struggle to love?  Jesus says, that is your neighbor.

This is the Christian vision of humanity, calling for love and respect for every human person, even if they have committed a wrong.  Anything other is not the Gospel.

Picture is free to use, taken from here.