Reminding us of the two greatest commandments of LOVE: "LOVE GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART...AND LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF", Jesus invites us today to reflect on a key question: WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?

Jesus is teaching us a major lesson through the powerful PARABLE of the GOOD SAMARITAN. A scholar of the law is testing Jesus: "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" This encounter leads Jesus to tell the story of a man falling victim to robbers as he was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho: they stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest, then a Levite when seeing him passed on the opposite side of the road. A third person, a Samaritan traveler was moved with compassion and took care of the victim pouring "oil and wine" over his wounds. He then took him to an inn and cared for him...

Jesus gives the major lesson of this parable by asking the scholar of the law: WHO IN YOUR OPINION WAS NEIGHBOR TO THE ROBBER's VICTIM? The scholar answered: "THE ONE WHO TREATED HIM WITH MERCY." Jesus approves this answer: "GO AND DO LIKEWISE."

I invite you to read slowly the entire Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) and ask yourself the following questions: WHO IS JESUS IN THIS PARABLE? Is HE the GOOD SAMARITAN, or is HE the VICTIM TO ROBBERS? WHERE AM I? What is Jesus' personal message for me TODAY given the current challenges I face?

In one of his homilies, ORIGEN, one of the early Scripture Scholars (third century) comments on the following interpretation: "The man who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho is ADAM. JERUSALEM is PARADISE, and JERICHO is the world. The robbers are hostile powers. The priest is the Law, the Levite is the prophets, and the SAMARITAN IS CHRIST. The wounds are disobedience...the inn, which accepts all who wish to enter, is the Church... The inn's manager is the head of the Church, to whom its care has been entrusted. And the fact that the Samaritan promises he will return represents the Savior' second coming ..." Origen can be at times controversial but his commentaries on Scriptures can generate good discussion.

I am not a Scripture scholar and will never be. I firmly believe that through the Scriptures, God gives us personal messages, especially in the four Gospels as we can all relate to Jesus in a very personal way. Over the last 30 years, I have been involved in Scripture Prayer Groups, like the ones we have in our parish on Tuesday mornings after 9 am Mass and Friday evenings (7 pm online).

Our Tuesday meeting this week focused entirely on the Gospel of the Good Samaritan, and the HOLY SPIRIT helped each participant to relate personally to this Gospel. One conclusion at the end of our one-hour meditation/discussion was that OUR NEIGHBOR IS JESUS HIMSELF! HE IS THE GOOD SAMARITAN who always treats us with MERCY: HE IS DIVINE MERCY! INFINITE MERCY. But JESUS Is also the robbers' victim.

May God the Father grant all of us the grace to imitate Jesus the Good Samaritan!

May the Holy Spirit help all of us to show mercy and love to everyone we encounter, especially those most in need.

May Jesus help all of us to see him in the faces of all our neighbors!

One in Christ,


Fr. Alain