Be the Good Samaritan to someone in your life

By THOMAS G. CRONIN- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

At my parish men’s group, we recently read and reflected on the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25-37). To test Jesus, the scholar asked Him what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus replied, “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.”

After pondering, we had a very engaging conversation. There are steps we can take to grow in our love for God, which include: increased and intentional prayer, reading the Scriptures, participating in the sacramental life of the Church — especially celebrating in the Eucharist, and by loving our neighbor, which enables us to put our love for God into action.

The parable calls us to help and show love for everyone, especially those that are different from us. I feel like I sometimes isolate Jesus’ message in this parable by focusing only on those in need that I don’t know “on the side of the road.” With that said, our conversation focused on the overwhelming number of people asking for money on the side of the road nowadays.

We agreed that it’s easy for us to become judgmental and assess whether the person asking for money is really in need or a “professional panhandler.” We concluded that as much as we do make judgments, we don’t know each person’s circumstance and we should be gracious givers.
We also discussed the importance of recognizing and respecting the person. How often do we take the time to meet the person? Yes, ask them their name and show them the love, compassion and mercy that the Samaritan showed to the victim he encountered. Providing a monetary donation or food is usually our first action, but how often do we take the time to meet the person?

Depending on your circumstances, engaging with a person on the street may not be prudent, but we have countless opportunities each day to be the Good Samaritan. Taking the time to call or visit a friend or relative is living the Gospel and fulfilling Jesus’ call to action. How often do we stop and take a few unselfish moments to call someone to just say hello and let them know we were thinking of them or missing them? How often, unexpectedly, does someone’s name or face come to mind? That’s not a coincidence — God planted a seed of someone who may need to hear from you. Maybe you don’t know what to say, but a friendly voice, a few encouraging words or just listening is what we were called to do.

Loving your neighbor as yourself is not easy, but in small ways, we can show our love for God through our actions. How can you be the Good Samaritan next week?

Please contact me with any questions about boosting evangelization efforts at your parish at [email protected] or by visiting www.rcda.org/evangelization. Follow me on Instagram: tom_rcda