Preparatory Prayer:
"I cried to Thee, O Lord. I said: Thou art my hope, my portion in the land of the living." Psalm 141.
Setting:
Seventytwo disciples had been sent out by Our Lord to preach. When they returned He received them with joy, blessing God for the success He gave but speaking a word of warning too against the danger of vainglory. It was while they were having these celebrations that a young lawyer stood up to ask a question which led on to yet another. "Who is my neighbor?" he asked, and for answer Our Lord gave him the parable of the Good Samaritan. A certain man was making a journey; thieves attacked him and robbed him and left him for dead on the road while themselves made good their escape. A priest came on the scene a while later, looked at the poor wounded man and walked on. A levite passed too, but did nothing to help. It was only when a Samaritan, one of the nation hated by the Jews, passed down that road that the wounded man got the help he needed. I can kneel in spirit and listen to Christ's voice telling the story, and in my prayer He will show me its rich depth of meaning.
Fruit: Sincere and supernatural love for every human being.
1. The wounded man may be taken to represent the human race. On our journey through life we are handicapped all along because of the sin of our first parents. It has left us violently inclined to evil, darkened in our understanding, exposed to the shafts of Satan, and in constant danger of falling irrevocably into his power.
That this is so is testified to in many places by St. Paul. "I am delighted," he writes, "with the law of God according to the inner man. But I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind, and captivating me in the law of sin that is in my members. Unhappy man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death? The grace of God, through Our Lord Jesus Christ."
The world and its pagan philosophies have little sympathy with the person or persons who are wounded by sin and struggling against the contagion of this foul disease. Sin is an ugly word, not to be mentioned in refined society a solecism; and we pretend either that it is not there, or else we deny its foul nature. We pass it by, as the priest passed by the wounded man, as the levite passed. In fact the world, even if it were willing to help, has no remedy for sin and sinfulness. It is incapable of even diagnosing the disease. So it goes on with its hypocrisy, encouraging sin, laughing complacently at sin, calling sin by soft, easy names; and when the poor sinner has been betrayed and disgracedprecisely because he listened and took its advicethen the world callously turns on its heel and derides him and abandons him to his fate.
It is a refinement of cruelty, and the world is a heartless, relentless master which uses its slaves only as long as they can serve and then throws them aside and passes on.
The cure is brought in the hands of the Divine Physician, represented by the Good Samaritan. Only the Son of God can cleanse the soul of sin. Only He can pour in the oil and wine that soothe and relieve the gaping wounds. When the wounds seemed fatal, when indeed death had actually set in, when all others had proved false and without even the desire to help, Jesus Christ bent down over the entire human race, over every sinner that needed Him and was willing to have Him, and, bending thus lovingly, healed the sick soul and raised the sinner to his feet.
Like her divine Master, the Catholic Church glories in being the friend of the outcast. We are sometimes reproached with the welcome accorded to the sinner, to the poor, the illiterate, in the Catholic Church. It is good to know they find a home here. Others may pass them by. Others may prefer a more exclusive following. The Catholic Church takes into her motherly heart every repentant sinner and restores him to the friendship of Christ. Like her Master she has the remedy he needs, and she is prodigal in her mode of giving. Not she only, but every true priest of hers is filled with this love for the poor and zeal for the conversion of sinners, no matter how long they have been lying wounded on the roadside.
Jesus, Good Samaritan, have mercy on me a sinner. Jesus, deign to make me an instrument in Your hand by which to communicate Your mercy to many other souls. Jesus, help me with the impossible task of thanking You for instituting the Sacrament of Penance.