Oh please – not this story again!! Do you sometimes have that reaction. But –this is a parable told by Jesus ... we shouldn’t have that kind of reaction!! Parables are suppose to catch us off guard but sometimes I think I know the story so well that I kind of tune out. Think for a moment ... as this gospel was being proclaimed did your mind wander to something else .. did you kind of half listen or jump ahead and anticipate the end of the story? Or did you listen with fresh ears? Truthfully, I often jump ahead to the ending and only half listen. Which is too bad because then we miss the lesson that is calling us to attend to. Often, I miss the invitation to be surprised by the parable ... to be transformed by the parable.

The lawyer asked the question ‘And who is my neighbor?’ His dissatisfaction with Jesus’ response elicited the tale that we call The Good Samaritan.

As I sat with this parable – wanting desperately to be surprised by it ... to be taken off guard . I began to realize I was trying to manipulate the parable ... create my own surprise. It is hard to let go of the way I think it should turn out.  Who is my neighbor? – that is the lawyer’s question and that was my question in my prayer and reflection... but is it the question of the parable.  Maybe -- but I didn't think so. The parable of the Good Samaritan was scandalous for those who first heard it... the listeners were shocked by it. Why could I not tap into that shock ?  Finally I just gave up. I had to let it be and let the story seep into my bones and let Jesus again tell the story and let myself listen.

Jerusalem to Jericho – I have made that journey and it is through very rocky terrain. I found it easy. I was observing the journey. I was sitting very comfortably on an air-conditioned bus so could only imagine how difficult it would be on foot under the hot Israeli sun.

If we could read the parable in its original language we would find that the word Luke uses for journey is the word he also uses for "the Way" or what we would call the Christian faith journey. ... Jesus is teaching me something about my faith journey. This journey from Jerusalem to Jericho ... wait a minute ... ‘from Jerusalem to Jericho? Aha! an inkling of surprise for me . We usually think of heading to Jerusalem not from Jerusalem. The lesson seems to be about going out from Jerusalem – from the center ... from the holy place... and Jesus wants me to tend to what I find on the journey.

What must I do? Who is MY neighbor? I! My! Didn’t I get it? As long as I ask the question this way I make myself the focus and I miss the parable. You, me – we are not the center of this parable. This wounded man – he is the center. This wounded man who was stripped, beaten, robbed and left for dead is the center.

The hurting of our world are the center ... the wounded of our world who have been stripped of – dignity, freedom, happiness, life, land, health---they are the center of our journey.

Our planet and environment stripped, robbed, beaten and left for dead through selfishness, carelessness corporate and personal indifference and greed are the center.

The people of Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine/Israel, Darfur left stripped, robbed, beaten and left for dead are the center of our concern.

The sister next to me who is lonely, confused or in mourning she is the center of our concern.

Pay attention! Pay attention! Pay attention! to what and whom you find on the journey from Jerusalem to Jericho. This Samaritan, seeing the wounded traveler, was moved to compassion ... moved to the very essence of his being and he could not - not do something. What moves us to compassion today?

What are the needs of our times that knock upon our heart,
plead with our conscience
and move us to compassion
that overflows in acts of mercy?

What moves me to compassion not just moves me but moves me to compassion so that I can not not do something?  That question surprised me – but what surprised me even more was my answer.  I – and perhaps you too – can list so many things that move us?   What surprised me was the last part ... what moves me to compassion that overflows into acts of mercy. Moves me to the point where I can not not do something. Have I become so numb because the needs of the world seem so overwhelming? Have I become indifferent to the suffering around me?

Since 9-11 we live in a different world but many times I think we, as a country, missed the chance to LIVE differently in the world.  Missed the opportunity to build and shape a truer place, a more peaceful place, a more compassionate place.

Since 9/11 we have been so caught up in labels ... "national security" "the enemy" the terrorist" "the axis of evil" "the insurgents" — that we have let others redefine "neighbor".

So tied up in the labels that we let these labels ---these particular well chosen labels — take up too much room in our mind and heart.  So tied up in the labels that we have become fearful and less trusting. The Samaritan saw a man in need. The Levite and the priest were blinded and saw not the wounded man but saw a source of impurity. Have we begun to see not the wounded but often see the other as a source of danger, a threat to us – a threat to our country, a threat to a particular way of life, someone who is different.

Have we become so fearful and so busy looking around every corner for "the enemy" that we have become blinded to the truth of who we are at our very core... brother and sister to each other ... neighbor to each other.

And when we are blinded from that we can not see who we truly are
and when we can not see who we truly are then we can not see the other
and when we cannot see the other
we can not be moved to a compassion
and when we can not be moved to compassion we will not act with mercy
and when we can not act with mercy we can not be neighbor.

Jesus never makes it complicated but he does turn things upside down ...he draws us into looking at things from a different vantage point. The question is not "Who is my neighbor." The question is "Who was a neighbor to the wounded man?"  Do we realize that we are neighbor?" Jesus is teaching the lawyer - and us- that knowing what to do will follow from the truth of who we are. 

It seems that Jesus is inviting us to accept that identity as neighbor and in accepting that identity, let our hearts be moved to compassion that will overflow into acts of mercy.

The lawyer in our story knew the answer.  He knew that the one who is a neighbor is the one who acts with mercy.  Perhaps in time he came to ask the question differently ...not ... Who is my neighbor? But rather ask, "Am I willing to be neighbor?’‘

Am I? Are you?  Perhaps reflecting upon this will surprise you ... try it.  Of course, you might have to get out of the comfortable, air-conditioned bus -- stop being only an observer of the journey and make the journey from Jerusalem to Jericho on foot. -- Teresa Tuite