Gospel : Luke 10 : 25 – 37
Year C
What must I do to have eternal life?
The question is excellent ….. but the intention is not of the same quality! Because it is to disconcert You Lord, that the question is asked… But is it only something of ancient history?…. Am I not tempted sometimes to do the same in relation to others?
What is written in the law?
Always, You return us to the Word of God. There we have all the enlightenment necessary to have eternal life. But it also needs humility to welcome the enlightenment with a simple and attentive heart, not by reasoning, quibbling …
And who is my neighbour?
The doctor of the law continues the discussion. Your reply will invite him to leave the realm of ideas to cross over into the concrete situation and to question himself. Your parable will reverse the questioning process. The question is no longer : who is my neighbour? but rather :Who has been a neighbour to the injured man? The problem is no longer the other person, it is I. Do I have in my heart, a love that lets me forget myself… see others, no matter who, known to me or unknown, to see the needy who need help, who need to be loved? The neighbour is he to whom I come close.
Go and do the same yourself!
Through this parable, you depict Yourself, Lord Jesus. You have made Yourself close to us, so close that You shared our sufferings, our death. With love, You take care of each one of us … because the poor man, robbed, lying on the ground, is the man deprived of grace, wounded by sin, it is also me sometimes!… Lord, good Samaritan, I say a big thank You .. And in contemplating You, I hear You say to me once more : Go, and do the same yourself!
