Just then a lawyer 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 neighbour 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 neighbour?’ Luke 10:25-29

This is the prelude to the parable of the Samaritan, perhaps the most well-known parable. Therefore, it is not necessary to go into details here.

I got a call from Camila, incidentally almost immediately after reading this gospel story. I have mentioned her before. Maybe it is not relevant to go into her background story at this point. Suffice it to say that she is our neighbor. The Samaritan did not know anything about the injured man except that he was in desperate need of help. Camila was in a desperate situation. She called and said everything is on fire where she lived. At first, I thought she was speaking figuratively. Then it became obvious that there was an electrical problem. No one is going to fix it because it is an abandoned building and Camila and the other residents are squatters. There was a fire right at the only exit of the building. Obviously, it shook her up and she decided that this was not a place to raise her three year old. Unfortunately, rent is absurd here. We are facing some challenges with our high rent. Someone like Camila cannot afford to rent a place. The best she could do is find a tiny room to rent which she did. It is going to take up most of her income. She survives by doing odd jobs. Unemployment is at an all time high and most jobs do not pay enough to even rent a small room. Camila needs help. She has no family. Most of her friends are just like her. They were once homeless and now all struggling to make ends meet. No one is any condition to help her except us and she is our neighbor.

We arranged to meet her on our way to the streets. She was late. Usually it is not a problem. Punctuality is just a suggestion here. We have even adapted to it so we are sometimes late too. However, this time we were on time which makes waiting even worse. There is no compensation for being punctual. We had made prior plans with Daniel to do something special for his birthday. He turned twenty last week. It is hard to imagine that this little kid we met at 11 is now at this age. After waiting for a considerable time, we had to leave. We did not want Daniel to think that we had forgotten about him. With Camila, we know that sometimes it takes two tries. She has her hands full. She has to juggle daycare and odd jobs not to mention laundry and meals. It is too much for a 23 year old. She does it well but sometimes she can not keep track of everything. We would see her again later this week, maybe tomorrow. There was still time for her to resolve whatever she needed to do. We went to the streets and Daniel was not there. He was most likely still sleeping. Definitely not the most successful day in terms of keeping our appointments. This is how things are. We just have to go with the flow. After all, our neighbors are homeless. They do not keep a schedule. Timetables and schedules are for those who are in society. Our neighbors are considered outcasts and invisible. They operate on a different time and we need to adhere to their system.

Unfortunately, the streets were buzzing with the latest tragic news. One of the boys was murdered. Maybe two. I only know of the one. His name is Mikael. He was perhaps the most unlikable teen in the streets. This is saying a lot because there are quite a lot of disagreeable characters. Even the person who told us the news referred to him as the worst teen in the streets. Regardless of this, it is still tragic. He was murdered by the gang. This is quite shocking for us. It has been years since someone in the streets was murdered by them. In fact, they put on a moratorium on any physical violence among the homeless. They included prohibition against any physical aggression towards the elderly and children. For a moment, we forgot that they were dangerous. This heinous act marked a sinister transformation in the way they operate. Mikael was accused of something serious but we suspect that it was all just made up. Anyway, we are dealing with a dangerous criminal faction. They do not have a commitment to justice nor the truth. Mikael was one of my least favorite persons in the streets. Nevertheless, he was my neighbor.

Kawanna approached us. They saw a robbery victim enter a police car and they decided to leave the scene. They were not involved but they knew that they would be the first suspects. They sat next to us. They thought that they would be safe from the police with us. I am not sure anymore. No one is safe anymore. Kawanna asked if she could meet with us later in the week. She and a group of older girls are thinking about doing something which sounded like embroidery but I have no clue what it is exactly. Mary has a vague idea. The most important thing is that the girls know what it is and they want to make items to sell. The material is quite expensive and they asked our help to purchase it. Kawanna said that they could odd jobs to buy the basic equipment but they need help with the primary material which a specific cloth, I think. These girls have been trying really hard to do everything possible to earn an honest living. They tried selling bottled mineral water. They tried doing odd jobs cleaning offices. They still struggle to make ends meet but they are determined. Kawanna stated that she wants to do something that will help them leave the streets permanently. For now, they need to be here to get donations and food. She believes that she will make it. She asked us to be part of this process. She recognized us as her neighbors.

On our way home, we had to spilt up. I needed to drop by the grocery store and Mary was picking up some cleaning supplies. On her way, she met this homeless man who lives near the corner of our street. He called out her name. It was amazing that he remembered it. Unfortunately, Mary had spent all her money and had nothing to offer him. She told him that she was out of money. The man smiled and said, “You are my friend. You don’t have to give me money each time we see each other. I just wanted to talk you. You are my friend!” He was happy about this. Perhaps it was something he wanted Mary to know for a while. He is just wanted to be our neighbor.

The words of Jesus have the power to open our eyes to see things that perhaps we just ignored previously. It is easy to lose sight of our neighbors in need when there are tons of things clamoring for our attention. However, these things will always be there. They never go away but our neighbors may not be always with us. Besides, they are very much real and present in our lives, more so than all the things happening in the world. As far as changing the world for the better, we have to just admit that it is beyond our means. Furthermore, Jesus never asked us to do anything of that nature. However, the Samaritan made a great difference in the life of that one man who was a victim of the injustices and sufferings in the world. The good actions of this one man did not make the world a better and safer place. It just showed one person that no matter what happens love is still present and strong in this world. This one thing all of us can do. We may not always have the resources to help everyone financially or solve their crisis. It is always within the means of all of us to show love even in the simplest manner. Nothing done in love is ever forgotten. These are treasures that we can store up for eternity.