Who is My Neighbor?

Using the very same conscience we have been talking about for the past few days, our scholar of the law in Sunday's Gospel reading nails the right answer with no problem. Here's the reading and then I've got a couple of bits of commentary that were fruitful for me.

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said,
"Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law?
How do you read it?"
He said in reply,
"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself."
He replied to him, "You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live."

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus,
"And who is my neighbor?"
Jesus replied,
"A man fell victim to robbers
as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down that road,
but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise a Levite came to the place,
and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal,
took him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,
'Take care of him.
If you spend more than what I have given you,
I shall repay you on my way back.'
Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbor to the robbers' victim?"
He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy."
Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

Lk 10:25-37

This is one of the most famous parables, thorougly studied and commented upon over the ages. I'm used to hearing many takes on it. However, these snippets from some commentaries struck me with force this time.

Instead of giving the lawyer the answer he demanded, Jesus' answer demands from the lawyer his answer to the question: Are you a good neighbor? He must answer the question now, instead of asking it, and he must answer it in his deeds, not just his thoughts and his words. ... Jesus' answer ["Go and do likewise"] does not tell us who to pin the label of "neighbor" on but tells us to pin it on ourselves by our actions.

Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul, Cycle C

Clearly the scholar is the illustration of what we've been thinking about from the first reading in Deuteronomy. He knows what is good and what is evil. It is in his heart and he listens. Of course, then Jesus tells him go to and do it, which is the necessary step in being the good neighbor. Don't just think about it, but act on it.

In Conversation with God has more on this beginning with someone who I've never heard anyone dwell up on in a homily, the victim.

This is my neighbour: he is a man, any man whoever who has need of me. Our Lord makes no specific reference to race, friendship or blood connections. Our neighbour is anyone who is close to us and has need of help. Nothing is said of his country, or of his background or social condition: homo quidam, just a man, a human being.

If Jesus answered the question instead of, in classic rabinnical style, turning the question around to the scholar, this is what he would have said. In asking his question, he is answering it. Everyone is our neighbor. I knew that, but because parable goes on to focus on the good Samaritan in such detail, it never struck me with such force as this last Sunday.

So what does the "go and do likewise" mean? It is spelled out. When the need is recognized we should act.

Firstly, he went up to him. This is the first thing to be done whenever we encounter misfortune or need; we have to get up close, we cannot just observe the situation from a distance. The Samaritan next did what had to be done: he took care of him. The charity Our Lord asks of us is shown in deeds; it consists in doing whatever needs to be done in each individual case.

God places our neighbour, and his needs, along the road of our life. Love is always ready to do whatever the immediate situation demands. It may not be anything particularly heroic or difficult; indeed what is called for is very often something small and simple: This love is not something reserved for important matters, but must be exercised above all in the ordinary circumstances of daily life (Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et spes).