When opportunities come to be a neighbor to someone, Lord, do not let me just pass by - Daily Reflections October 7,2013

TO NEIGHBOR ONE ANOTHER

 

Every morning, a wife would peek through her window and see her neighbor hanging newly washed clothes on the clothesline. Every morning, she would always tell her husband how bad her neighbor was at doing laundry. “Look, the clothes she washed are still dirty, she’d say.” The husband would just smile. After some weeks, the wife said to her husband, “Look, the clothes she’s hanging are now clean. Do you think she heard my comments about her dirty clothes?” The husband replied, “No. I cleaned our window.”

       Ask any man on the street what neighbor means and you will surely get something like: someone who lives nearby; a person or thing situated near another; someone who is good to another; a short distance; etc. What is common to all these definitions? They are all nouns.

       Today, in the parable of the good Samaritan, Jesus reminds us that neighbor is not so much a noun as it is a verb. In reply to the question of the lawyer, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus narrates a story of a man who was robbed and left for dead by the roadside. Many neighbors passed by, i.e., they walked near him. Finally, a Samaritan, considered an outsider during Jesus’ time and therefore someone who is not near but far off, stopped and cared for the man and took care of him even beyond the call of charitable expectations.

       As far as Jesus is concerned, neighbor is not a noun. It is a verb, an action word, something we do that gives flesh to our verbal professions of friendship, closeness and nearness. Fr. Joel O. Jason

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: In your own home, workplace or immediate community, is there a person who is more than “someone who is nearby”? Reach out to him or her today.

 

When opportunities come to be a neighbor to someone, Lord, do not let me just pass by. Ame