Just then a teacher of the Law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Luke 10:25-29

The question was about eternal life. This is a complex idea for our children and teens. It sounds alien to them. However, eternal means timelessness. A life that is not restricted to time and space, in other words, a meaningful life. Perhaps, this might perk up the interest among the homeless children. They want to live a meaningful life despite their desperate situation.

The question is a prelude to a famous parable. We have given it a name that perhaps diminishes something essential and important that Jesus was conveying. Jesus certainly did not call it the “parable of the Good Samaritan”. We do. It is curious. Whenever people say so and so is “good”, they are saying that the person is an exception to the rule. Inadvertently, we create a barrier between us and the so-called “good person”. It is a two-edged sword. It is a compliment and at the same time it implies that we are not going to be like the good person. The good person is a cut above the rest. Many are just happy being like the rest. Jesus was not telling a story about a good person. He was talking about a neighborly person. I am not sure if anyone of us is truly good, even Jesus refused to be acknowledged as good. The parable is about being neighborly. Our children and teens don’t see themselves as good people but they do want to be neighborly especially to those around them.

Everyone has heard about this parable. The plot is quite simple. A man is violently robbed and left for death. A priest sees him and then goes on his way. The levite, or in other words, a religious teacher or theologian in the modern context, does exactly the same. Then a samaritan comes and does something completely different. He sees another person in a desperate state and attends to his needs. It would be wrong to conclude that the priest and levite are evil people. Jesus never passed judgement on them. In fact, they were extremely religious people. It was their ritualistic observance that stopped them from helping the man. They would be considered ceremonially unclean if the blood of the injured or dead man touched them (Lev. 2:1-3). They would rather not risk being contaminated. Their liturgical priorities hindered them from acting compassionately. They understood the intricacies of religious practice but they misunderstood the purpose of it. On the other hand, Samaritans were considered a little worse than Pagans for the Jewish community at that time. They tolerated the Pagans but despised the Samaritans. These were neither here nor there religiously. They followed a distorted version of the Jewish religion, at least, according to the religious authorities of that time. Despite this, the Samaritan in the parable knew exactly what was required of him to act like a neighbor to a dying man.

The parable does not imply that Jesus was against ritualistic observance of the Law. Several times, He encouraged people whom He healed to seek a priest to fulfill the ritualistic cleansing. He was, however, against anything religious that hinders people from showing love and compassion to a neighbor, especially when they are in dire need of help and attention. This is a consistent attitude of Jesus in the gospels especially in his debates with the religious authorities. In today’s world, we don’t follow rigorous rituals or liturgy that holds us back from loving our neighbor. However, we might value doctrines, ideologies, philosophies, theologies, and prejudices above showing compassion to those God puts in our path. More often than not, our religious or intellectual arrogance blinds us from seeing and hearing those who need to be heard and seen.

I assume that Jesus had His personal prejudices too. After all, He was fully human. Part of being human is having negative preconceived ideas of people that we don’t even know. All cultures are sinful and consequently, they have their favorite people to hate and dehumanize. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Jesus was brought up not to think highly of Samaritans. Nevertheless, it did not stop him from paying attention to their faith. It did not stop Him from seeing their faith in action even though they did not understand all the right doctrines or rituals. All references Jesus made of the Samaritans in the gospel are very positive. Not just in the case of the Samaritans, He had the same attitude towards the Syrophoenician woman, the women of ill-repute, people struck with contagious diseases, widows, and the list goes on. Throughout the gospels, we read how Jesus sat and observed people that His society tended to overlook. He was constantly allowing His love for God to look into the hearts and souls of these women and men and see God’s presence in them.

Being a neighbor does not imply being free from prejudices and misconceived ideas about the neighbors. It is hard to shed our biases especially the ones we may not realize that we possess. We need to be careful that we don’t use religion and politics to promote these sinful notions especially when they hinder us from seeing our neighbor as a human being. However, our love for God should amount to something. It should help us see beyond our own personal limitations. It should help us to listen and see God’s presence in the person whom we think that has nothing concrete to offer us.

I used to hear our children talk about God as their only and true Friend in the streets. To be honest, I never took it seriously. I just thought that it was a pat answer and they did not really think too much about God. I don’t even know why I thought this way. Maybe I believed that I had a sophisticated idea of God and therefore, our children and teens were not able to understand the true nature of God like myself. However, for me, at that time, God was a theory or a theology. For these children and teens, when they say God is their Friend, it is something they experience one a day to day basis. They listen to Him and recognize His voice. He is their only moral guide, and of course, not all listen attentively to Him. Nonetheless, there are those who are always sensitive to His voice. My problem was with my lofty ideas of God I forgot to pay attention to the reality of God present in the lives of the abandoned children and teens.

They may not have the religious language but they have the faith of the samaritan. They know how to be neighbors. We have seen a homeless adult run after an elderly woman to return her wallet which she dropped unknowingly. He refused her offer of money as gratitude. Instead he wanted her to know that he did it because he thought that it was the right thing to do. We saw Danyel in tears because someone accused him of doing something bad. His only argument was that God dwells in his heart and He guides him to do the right things. He wasn’t crying because they thought badly of him. He was upset because their accusation meant that they thought that God was no longer His guide.

Danyel was missing for weeks because he spent a few months in a reform center for a crime he never committed. The other children and teens vouch for him. They don’t lie about these matters to us. Now, he is out, he wants to spend extra time with us. Perhaps to make up for the lost time. We went to a museum. He wanted to do something with us outside of his environment. We spent the time at the museum just conversing. Throughout the time, he was listening and asking questions about becoming a better human being. He wanted to be someone who he is already in many ways. He is a genuine neighbor to those around him especially us. Each time we spent time with this young man, we go home a little richer than before. He helps us appreciate the beauty and depth of God’s love. Perhaps, this is what being a neighbor is all about. It is not about being present physically next to someone but it helping the people around us to take one more step to understanding God is always here and present.

The parables are not fairy tales. They are lessons rooted in practical life. Jesus observed how people who were excluded in His society and revealed the presence of the divine in them. Loving God with all out heart, mind and soul always means being able to see God’s presence in the lives of others.