Who is my neighbor?\u00a0 A great question asked to Jesus in today\u2019s Gospel.<\/p>\n
This parable breaks through every prejudice that exists.\u00a0 It tears through every hatred or resentment we may hold toward another person or group of people.<\/p>\n
Why do I say this?<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0 One in need of repentance, certainly, yet still a child of God worthy of love and respect.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0 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 \u2013 the only Samaritan was a bad Samaritan.\u00a0 Samaritans were considered \u201chalf-breeds\u201d, half-Jew and half-Pagan, unwelcomed in Jerusalem and unworthy of any benefit of society.<\/p>\n
The answer to the question \u201cwho is my neighbor\u201d is not \u201cthe beat-up man on the ground.\u201d\u00a0 The answer to the question is, \u201cyour neighbor is the Samaritan, that one you dislike and wish would go away.\u201d\u00a0 The person you really dislike, that\u2019s your neighbor.<\/p>\n
When I first arrived to Corpus Christi, two families chose to leave the parish before meeting me.\u00a0 They decided to leave the parish the moment they learned the new pastor was Hispanic.\u00a0 That was enough for them to make a judgement, and to act on it.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0My 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
Who is my neighbor?<\/p>\n
I often wonder if Jesus\u2019 call to love others as he teaches in today\u2019s parable comes naturally to us, or if it\u2019s part of our supernatural calling as Christians.<\/p>\n
Moses said in today\u2019s first reading, that we must keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord \u2013 and that these are very near to us \u2013 already in our mouths and in our hearts.<\/p>\n
Our own conscience can certainly guide us in our actions and decisions, serving as a measuring stick.\u00a0 Yet, we so often fall short of our own personal expectations, others\u2019 expectations and most importantly, God\u2019s expectations.<\/p>\n
God calls us to recognize the goodness in others at all times.\u00a0 To celebrate what is right with the world.\u00a0 Yet, this does not always come easy.<\/p>\n
What have I done to speak for the dignity of the unborn?\u00a0 What have I done to ensure the incarcerated are well fed and cared for?\u00a0 How do I speak of those I disagree with?\u00a0 Do I hold any kind of prejudice or racist attitude?\u00a0 Do I consider any person or group of people as subhuman, devoid of any rights?\u00a0 What person or group of people do I find impossible to love or show compassion toward?<\/p>\n
For seven consecutive years, I visited the ICE detention center in Folkston, Georgia.\u00a0 Still today, Mass is celebrated there weekly, along with a weekly Bible Study.\u00a0 When I went, it was with Bishop Hartmayer for a huge celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe.\u00a0 About 400 men gathered in the basketball court on a cold December night, and we would hold baptisms, confirmations and first communions.\u00a0 Most of the catechists were inmates themselves, and they organized a band to play the Mass.<\/p>\n
Who is my neighbor?<\/p>\n