The Good Samaritan - Meditation on Mercy, July 10th, 2016

Photo from St. Henry Catholic Church, Ohio - Wikimedia Commons

 

"Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

Who are you in the parable of the Good Samaritan? Have you ever reached out in mercy to someone wounded by the side of the road? Have you ever walked by someone in need, with your eyes averted? Or have you experienced the helplessness of being the one who has been beaten, robbed, and left for dead, dependent on the mercy of strangers?  Most of us have played all these parts, including me. Sometimes, I am the wounded one lying in the street, rejected and abandoned. More often, I am the one who swiftly walks by, pretending not to see. Very rarely, I am the one who picks up and cares for the wounded one.

The Samaritan is ultimately the figure of the Redeemer, Jesus Christ. It is he who picks us up and cares for us. Yet in these times, no one seems to care. No one even says thank you. No one even knows it happened. That’s what is so amazing. They rise the next day in the inn, just thinking, “I picked myself up, I cleaned my own wounds, I don’t need God, I don’t need anyone, I am independent.” Somehow we have come to believe only in self, not in God, not in Jesus. Even many of those who were brought up to love God and to know Jesus just reject it all and live their lives apart from Him.

In the prophecy of Hosea, we hear how much God loves us, as a father loves his children. Although we turn away from Him, refusing to recognize Him and breaking His heart, He loves us still. He offers us mercy and healing; He will not come in wrath.

When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son.

The more I called them, the farther they went from me,

sacrificing to the Baals and burning incense to idols.

 

Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms;

but they did not know that I cared for them.

I drew them with human cords, with bands of love;

I fostered them like those who raise an infant to their cheeks;

I bent down to feed them…

 

How could I give you up, Ephraim, or deliver you up, Israel?

My heart is overwhelmed, my pity is stirred.

I will not give vent to my blazing anger, I will not destroy Ephraim again;

For I am God and not a man, the Holy One present among you;

I will not come in wrath. Hosea 11:4-9

 

Our dear God must be so much offended. And I know I have offended him more than anyone else. I spent decades offending God. And I know others will find their own path to Him but I just pray it takes shorter than it did for me. I just pray that it does not come too late. I don’t know the end of the story, but I want to be ready and I want my family and all my loved ones to be ready, to know God and love him so that they may spend eternity with Him no matter what becomes of this earth or each of us. Just let me never forget the healing given to me by the Good Samaritan. Don’t let me credit the innkeeper, myself, or someone who walked by, not knowing the one who loved me. Let me know and serve the Lord in this life that I may be happy with him forever in the next.

Dear Lord, convert my heart. Draw me, day by day, nearer and nearer to your Sacred Heart. There, as I can bear the lesson, teach me your blessed ways. Amen.