Today’s gospel passage is a familiar one. Jesus is explaining how to inherit eternal life. He gives two commands, to love God and to love your neighbour as yourself.

He relates the parable about the Good Samaritan to further explain how to do this. There is a man who has been left beaten and half dead at the side of the road.

There is a marked difference in the responses of the three people who face the same situation. On the one hand the priest and the Levite who did not want to get involved and on the other hand the compassionate and practical response of the Samaritan.

The priest and the Levite would not have been able to officiate at the temple if they had touched a dead body and they did not want to take that risk.

We may choose to identify with only one of the characters but if we examine ourselves closely we will find that at different times we have been selfless like the Good Samaritan and other times when we have been selfish like the priest and the Levite.

There were times when we took the time and effort to assist someone in a moment of need and there would have been times when we did not bother ourselves to get involved.

Then again there would have been times when we could identify with the man at the side of the road. We were ill or faced some difficulty, had been “beaten” and left “half dead” and a Good Samaritan came along and took care of us, bandaged our wounds and poured oil and wine on them. 

It is so easy for us to condemn the uncaring attitude of the priest and the Levite but it is easier for us to be understanding when we can recall situations where we were so caught up in our own lives that we were totally oblivious to someone who needed our attention; or we just did not want to risk getting involved because of the demand on our time, so we convinced ourselves that it was none of our business anyway. 

We simply chose to “walk on the other side”. It is so much easier than to burden ourselves with the problems of others.

But to love God and love our neighbour and to find eternal life we must strive to be more like the Good Samaritan.

As I reflect on this passage I think of the Good Samaritan as the teacher who goes above and beyond the call of duty to nurture a student who is in need.

This teacher knows only too well when getting the syllabus covered is only part of the job and must take time to listen because the student needs someone to listen to him/her.

The student needs someone to show care and understanding, someone to bandage his wounds and pour oil and wine on them.

It may be that the student is facing a parent leaving the home, it may be dealing with gang violence or peer pressure. Whatever the crisis, this teacher is moved with compassion.

The student is soothed and comforted and made to know he has the inner resources to cope. This teacher has “lifted the student on to his own mount”, carried him to the inn and looked after him.

Lord, we have just come to the end of a school year and we thank you for the teachers who have been Good Samaritans to so many of our children. Lord, they willingly responded in a moment of need.

They took the risk to reach out and “bandage” the wounds of those who were hurting. Their compassion and goodness have saved many of our youth from a life of delinquency.

Lord, we thank you especially because we know it is these experiences of goodness that impact on us and make Good Samaritans of us all.

Lord, we pray for those times when we were the priest and the Levite. We did not respond but chose to pass on the other side. Help us Lord, to realise that it is only by loving our neighbour that we can truly experience your love and so inherit eternal life.

Rosemarie Olliverre, a parishioner of St Finbar’s, is a wife and mother of two daughters. She is a former secondary school teacher.