Jul 13th, 2025: Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
“And who is my neighbor?”
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells a story that’s as powerful now as it was 2,000 years ago: the story of the Good Samaritan. A man is beaten and left for dead on the side of the road. Two respected, religious figures pass by him. And then, a Samaritan – an outsider, someone viewed with suspicion – stops and cares for him.
It’s not hard to see a modern parallel.
Today, the world is filled with people lying “by the side of the road.” They are not always physically bleeding, but they are vulnerable. Migrants fleeing violence. Refugees driven from war zones. Children separated from their families. Homeless people on our streets. Victims of human trafficking. They are often ignored or stepped over. Many are judged. Many are labeled “outsiders.” And too often, like the priest and Levite in the parable, we walk by.
But Jesus will not let us off the hook. He doesn’t just tell a nice story. He’s challenging the lawyer’s question: “Who is my neighbor?” – which is really another way of saying, “Who do I have to care about?” or even, “Who can I leave out?”
Jesus flips that question around. The real question is: “To whom will you show mercy?”
In this parable, Jesus praises the Samaritan not because he had the right religion or the right status – but because he acted. He crossed a boundary. He risked his own safety and comfort. He cared for someone who was probably nothing like him. That is what it means to be a true neighbor. That is what it means to love.
So, what does this means for us today?
It means that our faith cannot be separated from how we respond to the suffering around us. It’s not enough to pray and pass by. We must act with compassion. We must build communities of welcome. We must speak up for the voiceless.
Yes, there are political complexities to immigration and humanitarian aid. But the Gospel doesn’t begin with policy. It begins with people. With the face of the person on the side of the road. With the wounded stranger. With the brokenhearted parent. With the child who longs for safety.
As Pope Francis has said many times, we are not called to build higher walls, but longer tables.
And so, in the spirit of this Gospel, we must ask ourselves:
- Who are we tempted to walk past?
- Who do we consider “not our problem”?
- Who have we labeled unworthy of our time, compassion, or advocacy?
Because in the end, when we care for those the world ignores, we are not just doing good – we are following Christ. For He, too, was rejected. He, too, was cast out. And yet He became the one who binds up our wounds.
“Go and do likewise,” Jesus says. Go and be the Samaritan. Go and make someone else’s road safer.
Go and show mercy – no matter how costly, no matter how unexpected.
Closing Prayer:
Loving and merciful God, You have shown us what it means to love our neighbor through the example of the Good Samaritan. Open our eyes to see the wounded along our path, Open our hearts to respond with compassion,
And open our hands to serve without counting the cost. Help us to cross boundaries of fear, prejudice, and indifference, so that we may be true disciples of Your Son, Jesus Christ. In His name we pray.
AMEN.