Newsletter Vol. 1 Issue 40

May 17, 2021

James Tissot (French, 1836-1902). The Good Samaritan (Le bon samaritain), 1886-1894
Brooklyn Museum

Read Ahead: Luke 10:25-27

Revisiting the Good Samaritan In Light of Our Discernment Series

“By ourselves, we risk seeing mirages, things that are not there. Dreams, on the other hand, are build together. Let us dream, then, as a single human family, as fellow travelers sharing the same flesh, as children of the same earth which is our common home, each of us bringing the richness of his or her beliefs and convictions, each of us with his or her own voice, brothers and sisters all.”

- Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti

Throughout this Discernment Series for Racial Justice, we have examined the ways we are privileged and marginalized, prejudiced, and simultaneously committed to liberation. We have seen how racism operates not just as an individual act of prejudice, but a historical, cultural, and structural reality in the interest of White privilege and supremacy. Naming these realities, we have asked ourselves how we ought to choose to stand with Christ whose message is one of inclusion, freedom from oppression, and today, racial justice. We have journeyed with people of color in their sufferings due to racism just as Jesus journeys to the Passion and his death on the cross. In Christ’s resurrection, we have seen new possibilities – works for racial justice so we can truly manifest God’s call that we be one human community, each of us siblings on this journey of life.

In the Spiritual Exercises, Saint Ignatius encourages us to do a repetition of a reflection or meditation to see what more God might be calling us to. In light of our journey together in this series, today we are invited to reimagine the story of the Good Samaritan, asking for the grace to see anew based on newsletters and prayer over the preceding eighteen weeks. In this way, we see how God has increased our understanding and conformed our hearts to be more like his heart, which is radical mercy, compassion, and inclusion.

Meditation:

I recall the Scholar of the Law and his response to Jesus: the law calls us to love, to Go with all our heart, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. I imagine who I consider to be my neighbor. Who do I forget to remember? Has my conception of neighbor expanded over the course of this discernment series? In what ways do I try to justify myself, either by showing I am racially aware or in defensiveness of the status quo? Where might God be calling me to shed my own self-justifications?

I recall the characters in the story: I begin with the man traveling along the road. What are his hopes and dreams? What does he think about as he walks? What does he look like? Are his thoughts similar to mine, his dream like mine?

I recall the robbers: what led them to become robbers? What about the social conditions that set them up to need to rob to begin with? How is this linked with racism? What do the robbers steal from the man?

I imagine the wounded man. In what ways do I identify with him? How have I learned to see his plight as a racial minority? In the words of Pope Francis in Fratelli Tutti, “there are times when we feel like him, badly hurt and left on side of the road. We can also feel helpless because our institutions are neglected and lack resources, or simply serve the interests of the few, without and within.” (p75). How are the robber and the wounded connected in a system of racism and White supremacy?

I imagine the responses of the priest and Levite. What leads them to ignore the racially oppressed? What keeps them focused on themselves and the concerns of status-quo faith? How am I part Levite and priest? What are examples in which I have responded like the priest and Levite?

I recall the Good Samaritan – the marginalized one who sees the suffering, wounded man. How has the marginalized taught me to see those who are suffering more acutely? How has this discernment series formed me to see the world through the lens of the Good Samaritan? How am I changed because of what I have heard and learned and prayed?

The Good Samaritan takes action – not just immediate action but sustained. He binds the wounds, takes the man to the inn, and pays for him to stay longer. What might Jesus be calling me to do as I try to show mercy and create a space of inclusion? What have I learned that inspires me to commit to action?

Resource: America MagazineWho became a neighbor? Reading Black Lives Matter through the Good Samaritan

Click to READ

Questions for Reflection:

How did what I learned over these weeks change how I read the Story of the Good Samaritan?

At this point, who do I most identify with? What might God be inviting me to see about myself, racial justice, and our world?

Did something emerge that I want to commit to doing? How will I make a plan to take action?