Reflection
It is not by accident that the phrase ‘as cold as charity’ is still current. Deciding on whom we will be kind to, just based on our ‘warm fuzzies' and the glow of our purses, may make us feel good; but it will result in a very wintry experience for the not-so-lucky recipient. When we 'do' charitable things, we can often remain powerful and untouched by the situation of those our money helps.
St Thomas Aquinas, however, calls charity the mother of all virtues. He argues it is more concerned with the feelings of the heart than external action. Aquinas maintains that charity enables us to sort through our desires, to see what we really want – whom we actually love; it helps us use the other virtues to act accordingly. Christian charity is not a feel-good moment; it is a life-changing experience. Understood this way, the Good Samaritan can be a great example of charity.
For Jesus, nonetheless, he is a model of mercy. The Good Samaritan is not 'good' because he has the money to act on what he sees. His greatness is that he has eyes to see it at all. To really see it. The priest and the morality-teaching Levite pretend it's not happening and walk on the other side of the road. But the most unlikely, the least liked person in Israel – a Samaritan – has the view of mercy.
Christian tradition teaches us that mercy and justice are intertwined. Thomas Aquinas says that mercy helps us hear, and justice calls for us to do something. The Samaritan does what he can at the scene of the crime and then he takes the victim with him. He not only sees, but judges and acts. In doing so, he breaks nearly every religious and social law in the book; but it doesn't matter. The virtues of mercy and justice enable us to see all sorts of things more clearly, even civil and religious laws that inhibit the justice of God.
This entire episode in Luke's Gospel is about the movement from an individualised faith, which can think that it is just 'me and Jesus against the world', to a faith that goes out to the world acting mercifully and justly. This parable is about what we see, whom we love, and what we want to do about it.
The example of the Good Samaritan should enliven our charity, mercy and justice; and it should challenge us to see clearly who needs to be carried with us on the Gospel road
© Richard Leonard SJ
St Thomas Aquinas, however, calls charity the mother of all virtues. He argues it is more concerned with the feelings of the heart than external action. Aquinas maintains that charity enables us to sort through our desires, to see what we really want – whom we actually love; it helps us use the other virtues to act accordingly. Christian charity is not a feel-good moment; it is a life-changing experience. Understood this way, the Good Samaritan can be a great example of charity.
Christian tradition teaches us that mercy and justice are intertwined. Thomas Aquinas says that mercy helps us hear, and justice calls for us to do something. The Samaritan does what he can at the scene of the crime and then he takes the victim with him. He not only sees, but judges and acts. In doing so, he breaks nearly every religious and social law in the book; but it doesn't matter. The virtues of mercy and justice enable us to see all sorts of things more clearly, even civil and religious laws that inhibit the justice of God.
This entire episode in Luke's Gospel is about the movement from an individualised faith, which can think that it is just 'me and Jesus against the world', to a faith that goes out to the world acting mercifully and justly. This parable is about what we see, whom we love, and what we want to do about it.
The example of the Good Samaritan should enliven our charity, mercy and justice; and it should challenge us to see clearly who needs to be carried with us on the Gospel road
© Richard Leonard SJ