Am I My Brother’s Keeper?

Listening to the Spirit

Listening to the Word

Luke 10:25-37

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test him and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” He said in reply, You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” He replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn, and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’ Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?” He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Reflection

During World War II the Nazis murdered more than six million Jews and millions of non-Jews.

Pastor Martin Neilmoller was a Protestant minister in Germany and he describes what happened during the war. He says, “First, the Nazis went after the Jews, but I was not a Jew, so I did not object.

Then they went after the Catholics, but I was not a Catholic, so I did not object.

Then they went after the trade unionists, but I was not a member of the trade union, so I did not object.

Then they came after me, and there was no one left to object.”

There is an old saying that goes like this, “We don’t pay attention when somebody else’s ox is being stolen.”

More often than we realize, our only concern is looking out for ourselves and our own wellbeing.

Pastor Neilmoller admitted that throughout this whole dirty business of the Nazis (in Germany) his unspoken refrain was, “It’s none of my business.”

In today’s gospel (Luke 10:25-37) the priest and the Levite, among other excuses, might have said, “It’s none of my business.” Recently my fellow priest had his cellular phone stolen from his bag in the sacristy while he was celebrating the Eucharist. Having realized that he had been robbed he approached the person in charge of the sacristy and commented: “I thought you would watch over my bag while I was in the Mass!” The sacristan’s reply was quick: “That’s not my business.”

When Cain killed his brother Abel, and God asked Cain where his brother was, Cain answered, “I don’t know, am I my brother’s keeper?”

Yes, we are our brother’s keeper. The priest and the Levite hadn’t learned that lesson, but the Samaritan, a foreigner, had.

No person is an island, no person stands alone. Each person’s joy is my joy, each person’s grief is my grief. We need one another. Each person is my brother, my sister; each man or woman is my friend.

Any human person’s death diminishes me, because I am part of this humanity. This is the kind of consciousness that Xaverian Missionaries commit to continue propagating: we are one world, one family, all brothers and sisters responsible for each other.

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