Help in every way

But sometimes, you just don't want to help. Jesus understood that, but He had an answer in this week's Gospel (Luke 10:25-37):

A man said to Jesus, "I know I'm supposed to love my neighbor, but who is my neighbor?" Jesus answered with a story: "A Jewish man was beaten up and left on the side of the road. A priest came by and wouldn't help him. A religious man passed but didn't stop, either. Then a Samaritan man came, and even though his people were enemies of the Jews, he saw the hurt man and helped him." Jesus asked, "Who was the Jewish man's neighbor?" The man who questioned Jesus said, "The one who helped him." "You do the same thing," Jesus told him.

The priest and religious man in Jesus' story were like that. They saw the hurt man on the ground, but they didn't like him and didn't want to help. They walked right by.

You probably haven't walked by someone who was hurt, but it can hurt people just as much when you won't help them in other ways. Maybe it's fun to help your dad, but not fun to stop someone from picking on the kid next door.

In the story, Jesus was saying, "Help anyway! Help especially when you don't like the person or when you'd rather do something else." It's easy to help the people we like, but Jesus reminded us it's important to help the ones we don't!

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK: Jesus, help me to help whoever needs me! Amen.

(07-12-01)