Our Ministries
08 Jul

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

DkruppaWho is the neighbor to the wounded man?

Think of the Good Samaritan story as if it happened today.  Where do you see the “beaten ones” in your neighborhood, city or world?  What groups need the Samaritan?  The trafficked?  The immigrants? The refugees? The homeless or the hungry?   Who are the Samaritans who are helping these defenseless ones to live a fuller life? Whether it is large or small, is there anything you can do to help any of the “beaten ones” we see?  Can we cross the road?

With whom do you identify in the story: the beaten one, the Levite, the priest, the Samaritan or the lawyer?  How do you hear Jesus speaking to you through this parable?  The question of “who is my neighbor” baffles us at times.  On a poster I found this quote:  “The point of the Good Samaritan story is not evangelism.  The point is to love people you don’t know who are from places where you don’t live.  They too are your neighbors.”   I’m going to work at widening my heart as I listen to this parable this weekend.  Another discovery I made is Ron Rolheiser’s alternate telling of the parable that brings it into modern times.  Am I the person  who would most unlikely be the Good Samaritan?  Here is the link:

http://www.liturgy.slu.edu/15OrdC071016/reflections_rolheiser.html

 

Welcome to St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church