Welcome to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Newton, KS.
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
One of the classic images in a catalogue of stained glass art is that of the good Samaritan. Along with the prodigal son, and Jesus blessing the children, the good Samaritan is one of the most commonly reproduced artistic scenes. Within 125 years of the first printed English Bibles the term "good Samaritan" came to have the figurative sense referring to anyone who helped a stranger in distress. Interestingly, the biblical text never uses the word "good" to describe the Samaritan. He is referred to as "neighbor" to the man who fell victim to robbers. Yet if someone refers to a person as a good Samaritan, we know instantly what is meant. As we've all heard before, Samaritans were considered outcasts by Jews at the time of Jesus. Because they worshipped on Mt. Gerizim rather than in Jerusalem there were tensions between Jews and Samaritans that even escalated to violence that had to be quelled by the Roman occupiers. So it was a very pretty picture when the lawyer who questioned Jesus finds himself having to admit that it was the Samaritan who treated the robbers' victim with mercy. What is our own understanding of who is our neighbor in the present day? The parable is such an enduring tale that its meaning has slipped into our common language. But that has happened at the expense of the story's punch line, and it is one that packs a real punch! Who are the outcasts or the despised in our day? What class of people have we found it difficult to accept? Or who might we find it easy to denigrate? The homeless? Immigrants? Muslims? Someone else? What if they were the Samaritan? Would we love the story as much if Jesus asked us today, "Which of these, in your opinion, was neighbor?" How would we answer?