“GOD DOES NOT NEED YOUR GOOD WORKS, BUT YOUR NEIGHBOUR DOES.”

– MARTIN LUTHER

Do you know your neighbour? In some places, as our cities and towns become more urbanised, we get to know our neighbours in welcome and unwelcome ways. We meet them in apartment hallways and over fences, engaging in pleasant conversations that may last five minutes or four hours. Some neighbours become friends or closer than family. And sometimes, we hear the unintended noises and conversations that drift through open windows or thin walls. We know that for many people, their residences are not the safe places of refuge that we may ordinarily experience in our own lives. We become aware of aspects of people’s lives that we didn’t know or perhaps didn’t want to know.

Our neighbour, though, is a broader concept than the geographical collision of familiar living. As Vincentians, we encounter our neighbours in the person who has turned up on the steps of a support centre, a Volunteer at one of our stores, or one of our Members whom we see at a meeting or occasional gathering. We understand our neighbours as the people in our communities, or more globally, the peoples and nations that span our beautiful and complex planet. Our definition can be as expansive as our willingness to see the fullness of the person we encounter.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the most powerful and enduring stories of the New Testament. It has shaped our understanding of charity and filtered into our everyday language. It is easy to identify those in the parable who failed the injured man. We might easily feel disdain or shock at the ease of the two people who passed on the other side of the road. It is harder to recognise the times in our lives when we are those same people, who turn away from the hurt and bleeding stranger for reasons that are justified in our minds and hearts. The priest and Levite who turned away are selfish and prideful; our explanations are reasonable and legitimate.

Jesus asks, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” We might think that the answer is the one who helps or the one who heals. It is one who showed him mercy. It is an important distinction. It is one thing to offer aid and assistance to a person in need in a transactional manner. This does not negate the good of the work, but as Christians, there is a deeper invitation; to show mercy is an empathetic act of risk and generosity that opens up a relationship.

In the parable, the man from Samaria goes further than the simple and important act of providing for his material and health needs. He genuinely cares for, and is invested in, the injured traveller. He invites others to share in the needed care. He returns to ensure his ongoing healing and safety. To be merciful means to meaningfully and purposefully enter into a relationship that transcends the initial act of assistance. Receiving mercy leads us to be merciful to others. We build a culture of mercy. The Reign of God, characterised by justice, peace, and love, inches a little closer with each act of mercy.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

• Who is your neighbour?
• How have you experienced mercy in your life?

From: Firewood for the soul, vol. 2, A Reflexion Book for the Whole Vincentian Family
St. Vincent de Paul Society, Queensland, Australia.
Text by: Samantha Hill and James Hodge.