07/13/2025
Luke 10:25-37 There was a
scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus 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."
Do you know that I am a lawyer?
Bishop McDonald sent me to study canon law which is the vast array of 1752
canons that make up the Code of Canon Law. That Code is the equivalent of the
U.S. Constitution and 27 amendments combined. And since I am lawyer I hope you
other lawyers don’t mind me telling a lawyer joke. Only lawyers should tell
lawyer jokes just like only priests should tell priest jokes. So I can tell
lots of jokes.
A man was on his deathbed, and he
called his three closest friends to visit him, a doctor, a lawyer, and an
engineer. He told them, “I know they say you can’t take it with you. But I want
to try anyway. So, I’m giving you each $10,000 cash. After I die, when you come
to pay your respects, place the $10,000 into the coffin with me.”
After the man passed away, the
three friends came to pay their respects. Afterwards, they were all talking,
and the doctor said: “I know it’s medically impossible, but I have to admit I
put $9,000 in the casket and kept $1,000 for myself.” The engineer likewise
chimed in: “I did all the math and realized its impossible also. But I have to
admit, I put $5,000 in and left $5,000 for myself.”
The lawyer looked at them both with
disgust and said: “I am disappointed in both of you. This was our friend’s last
wish and neither of you held up your end. For my part, I decided to write him a
check for the entire amount, and put it in the casket.” If you didn’t get that
joke, just call a lawyer and he or she can explain it to you, and charge you
$10,000 for the call.
In the gospel today, we see Jesus
dealing with another lawyer, the predecessor of us canon lawyers, namely, a
scholar of the Mosaic law. And by the way, even though God only gave Moses the
10 Commandments on Mt. Sinai, later legislation expanded this legal code to 613
more detailed laws that essentially gutted God’s original intentions.
Thus, even though the Jewish lawyer
admits to Jesus, you should “love your neighbor as yourself,” word “neighbor”
had a very narrow and limited definition. Like a former U.S. president once
said, “It depends on what your definition of “is” is.” In other words, for the
lawyer “neighbor” no longer meant everyone.
This legal background is crucial to
understand Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan and how our Lord defines the
word “neighbor.” How so? Well, the first two characters – the priest and the
Levite – would have been the lawyer’s picks for “the neighbor of the week
award.” Why? Because they acted exactly how the law prescribed, namely, not to
touch a corpse because according to the parable, the man was beaten by robbers
and left “half dead,” virtually a corpse.
But a Samaritan, who did not have
his head full of laws but his heart full of love, immediately – and very
generously – reached out to the neighbor in need. In other words, the
Samaritan’s definition of neighbor included everyone without exception, which
is what God had originally intended in his 10 Commandments. The Samaritan was a
better Jew than the priest and Levite.
I think Jesus’ parable can help
with an urgent and controversial topic of immigration, or more exactly, illegal
immigration. Now, personally, I am town down the middle on this issue. Why? On
the one hand I fully see the right (indeed, the need) for countries to protect
their borders and enforce the laws of their land. After all, I am a trained
canon lawyer, and fully believe that laws – both civil and ecclesiastical –
serve the common good. They help people to live in peace and harmony.
Think of laws like street lights at
traffic intersections that tell people when to stop and when to go. Although
there are a lot of people in Fort Smith that could use a refresher course in
basic traffic laws. Consequently, if someone enters a country illegally they
should understand they run the risk of deportation, and/or other legal
penalties for their actions.
But on the other hand, laws should
not “trump” – pun intended – the highest law, which is the commandment to love
our neighbor. Here are two ways that love of neighbor can maintain this higher
status. First, all people – not neighbor in the narrow sense – have an
inalienable right to due process, that is, everyone is considered innocent
until proven guilty. That presumption of innocence is a bedrock legal principle
without which the entire edifice of the law would be a house of straw that a
strong gust of wind could blow over.
And second, we cannot lose sight of
the humanity of the vast majority of illegal immigrants who are only here to
provide for their families. They are in effect like the man in the parable going
down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and their lack of legal status makes them seem
“half-dead.”
And therefore, in the estimation of
many today, like in the eyes of the priest and Levite, they do not qualify for
neighborly treatment. On the other hand, St. Augustine saw the wine and the oil
the Samaritan used as symbols of the sacraments of Anointing and Eucharist. In
other words, the Church by lavishing her sacraments on everyone, applies the
broadest definition of neighbor.
My friends, we all have a right to
our opinion about illegal immigration. It is complicated and each person should
follow his or her conscience when formulating their own moral judgment. But one
important aspect of developing our moral judgment includes how we define the
word “neighbor” – narrowly or broadly. Here in the South we pride ourselves on
having a very broad definition of neighbor, especially the neighbor in need.
And if I had to guess, the Samaritan in the parable must have been from the
South, too.
Praised be Jesus
Christ!
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