FAMILY ISN’T ALWAYS BLOOD. IT’S THE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE WHO WANT YOU IN THEIRS. THE ONES WHO ACCEPT YOU FOR WHO YOU ARE. THE ONES WHO WOULD DO ANYTHING TO SEE YOU SMILE, WHO LOVE YOU NO MATTER WHAT.

BHAVANA SHUKLA

Many people would be familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan. Many may be familiar with the story that it is now just a story, not something that shocks us or makes us think deeper. The story begins after a Jewish leader asked the question “Who is my neighbour”? If we were to be asked the same question, how many of us would be able to share about our neighbour? The word neighbour can sometimes be distant. Often, we refer to our neighbour as the person over the fence that separates their land from ours. The language in the question is what allows the story of the Good Samaritan to lose some of its power and shock value. Maybe we would have a better chance of answering the question if it were “who is my family”?

As soon as you say the word family, people can vocalise and elaborate. Family gives people a human value, a circle of connection, a human relationship.

People we associate with as family are people that we have a natural bond with. This goes beyond blood relatives. We respect them, even if we do not agree with them and we potentially sacrifice our own needs simply because they are family.

This is where the real shock value of the parable of the Good Samaritan comes in. Jesus saying that your worst enemy is to be now regarded as family. But those people, those ones who are excluded by everyone, they are now your problem. What this means is that everything now becomes personal. This means that when people walk past a homeless person on the street, they are ignoring one of their family members who is in need. When you hear people speaking badly about another person, they are insulting a member of your family. It is a difficult reality to face and it will change the way that we see the world. Is this what Jesus was trying to tell us when He told the parable?

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

• How do you feel when you walk past someone that you see is in need?
• How do you advocate for these people in your daily life?

From: Firewood for the soul, vol. 1, A Reflexion Book for the Whole Vincentian Family
St. Vincent de Paul Society, Queensland, Australia.
Text by: Samantha Hill.