Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Deuteronomy 30:10-14; Colossians 1:15-20; Luke 10:25-37)
The well-known parable of the Good Samaritan reminds us of
other stories about loving one's neighbor. One such story was written by the
great Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Entitled "Two Old Men," the action
begins in Russia at an unspecified time.
Ephraim and Elisha are two elderly friends. Ephraim is well
respected in his hometown for his upright life. He has a large family and
plenty of money, although he continually worries that it isn't enough. Elisha
is neither rich nor poor. He drinks vodka occasionally and takes snuff, but he
is known as a friendly man who likes to sing. One day, the two agree to
undertake the long pilgrimage to the Holy Land, to which they had committed
themselves in their youth.
After walking for several weeks, Elisha struggles to keep up
with Ephraim. When he becomes thirsty, Elisha tells his companion to keep going
while he asks for water at a peasant's house. He promises to catch up with
Ephraim later. At the house, Elisha finds poverty such as he has never seen in
their lives. Each member of a family of five is on the verge of starvation.
Elisha shares the provisions he carries in his backpack with the family. He
then goes to the nearby village to buy more. In fact, he stays with the family
for several weeks, providing for their needs until he no longer has enough
money for the boat fare from Constantinople to Jaffa. So he decides to abandon
the project and return to his own land.
Ephraim reaches the Holy Land and visits all the important
biblical sites. While attending the sacred liturgy at the Holy Sepulcher, he
sees something he knows is impossible. From the back of the sanctuary where he stands
because of the crowd, Ephraim sees his friend Elisha at the front near the
altar. He looks for him after the Eucharist, but with so many men leaving the
sanctuary at once, he can't find him. When Ephraim returns to his homeland, he goes
to visit his friend. He tells Elisha that his feet reached the Holy Land, but he
wasn't certain if his soul arrived as well.
Both stories—Jesus's parable and Tolstoy's short story—teach
us several lessons. One is the relative importance of being faithful to our
responsibilities. The priest and the Levite in Jesus' parable overlook the
half-dead man because touching a corpse would have rendered them unclean and
prohibited them from performing their priestly duties. Ephraim, also a diligent
man, could have returned to investigate what happened to his companion, but he
decided to go ahead with his project. In itself, it is good to be faithful to
our responsibilities. However, sometimes God wants us to go beyond fulfilling ordinary
duties to make sacrifices for the good of those in need.
Certainly, out of justice, the Samaritan has to do something
to save the man's life. Binding his wounds and taking him to a shelter seem
only humane in the situation. But he treats him like a brother, taking him to
an inn and paying for all his needs. Elisha shows this kind of concern, which
we call "love" or "charity," for the starving family. Just
as Elisha stands near the altar in his companion's vision, we will be closer to
Christ for having offered this kind of love.
Finally, both stories teach that our neighbor is not just
the one who lives next door or even in our country. No, we are all neighbors to
one another. As global warming is making clear, actions in one part of the
world can affect lives in other parts. Jesus commands the lawyer to do to
others what the Samaritan does for the man assaulted by robbers. We should hear
him saying to us too: “Go and do likewise.”
