Who is my neighbor? This is the most striking question in the Gospel not just by the lawyer who asked Jesus concerning eternal life but also to us Christians of today. When we answer this question of neighborhood, we categorize people who fits in to our classification. First, our neighbors are the one living in the nearby houses close to our compounds and residences. Second, our neighbors are those who are our friends and company. Third, the neighbors are the people whom we know and we like and they are there to help us.

This question of the Gospel is beyond our common understanding of neighborhood. It is because in the bible the concept of neighbors includes those whom we do not know, the rejected, the poor, the orphans, the widows, the sinners, the other race, the other religion and so on.

The gospel parable clearly illustrates to let us see that there is an achievable connections of people beyond boundaries of tribes, religion and race.  On the one hand, it also shows the lack of sensitivity in acting with direct and immediate response in the part of the Levite and the priest.

As a human person it is our bounden duty to render urgent response to those people who are in dire need especially in the case of death. This is not just what the civil law requires but rather our moral obligation to the society and to God.

The events of the man left half-dead on the road beaten by brigands that has not received quick help except the Samaritan man who passed by coincidentally as narrated to us in the gospel today, awakens our consciousness what would be our moral duty and concerns are all about. For us today, the addressee of this parable are we the Christians. Hence, we are all believers of Christ in the our times. To see the dying person whom we do not know as victim of accident and torture perhaps would not be our primary concerns. Often, we people and religious leaders and authorities act and behave like the priest and the Levite in the gospel. Who cares? It is not of my business. Cardinal Tagle of the Archdiocese of Manila, Philippines said in one of his lecture conferences, “we often hear people saying I don’t care….then, who cares? If people in the world will not care, then what kind of world we are living? He further said, “there is something wrong in our world”.

When we turn on the television news every night, we see thousands of people who are refugees. We see thousands of people who are without home. Thousands of people who are alien into the country they are living in because they were not granted citizenship. More so, we see thousands of children who are sick and without proper nutritious food and suffer hunger. These are just one of the many hard and visible real life scenario happen in the world. Then, we can say, who cares (?). These are the tough struggle we are facing in every day as Christians as commanded to us by the Gospel.  

The gospel always challenges us to look at deeper ourselves where can our limit be. It is complicated to believe sometimes. But great things happened in its own mysterious ways.

Definitely, as Christians motivated by love and faith, it becomes easier for us to give quick response of help. In fact we have many social action networks and forces in our church that tries to give help to those who are vulnerable and marginalized. And many have been helped indeed.  It is because the core values of life especially the concerns for our neighbors is already inside of us and continues transforming us. We shouldn’t allow to waste time to save lives. The Samaritan man is very saintly. He can pretend and turn his head away from the half-dead man on the road. But he was moved with mercy and compassion though he was a gentile, an outsider, a foreigner. This is the core of the Christian faith. This is the example shown to us by Jesus on how we can take good care of those in need.

Our faith life should motivate us to do more.