And who is my neighbour?

Jo 1,1- 2,1.11; C Jo 2,2-5.8; Lk 10,25-37
7 OCTOBER

Jesus is asked a specific question: “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” In this context, for eternal life we ​​mean life after death, that is bliss, peace and eternal joy. “Teacher, what must I do to live in the tent of the Lord in eternity?” Jesus refers to the Ancient law. Scripture is the source of all wisdom, science and knowledge of the will of God. Scripture is removed as the source of knowledge, truth, science and wisdom and one enters the thought of man. The will of man is elevated to the principle of action. Not rationality, but will. It is good what man wants to be good and bad what man decides to be bad. By will good is declared evil and evil is raised to the law of good. Eternal life is inherited by loving God and neighbour according to the Law of the Lord.

It must be said at once that in the Scriptures nothing is left to the will of man and nothing to his rationality. Rationality serves man to convince himself that what God has established as good is really good and what he has declared bad is really bad. It suffices to open your eyes, it suffices not close your mind and you will see that adultery, divorce, concubinage, free love and every sexual relationship outside of a faithful, stable, lasting and irreversible marriage according to truth of nature, that is, between a man and a woman, is a source of all evil. It suffices to use a little intelligence and you might see how out of the law of the Lord there is no life, because everything is destabilized. All social, religious and civil ills are the result of non-observance of the Law of the Lord. Life is in obedience to the Law just as it was given. You obey, you enter life. You disobey, you walk a path of death. One is in life today, hne passes into eternal life tomorrow. He is in death today, he moves into eternal death tomorrow. From life to life and from death to death.

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 neighbour 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 neighbour?” 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 traveller 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 neighbour to the robbers’ victim?” He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

What does the account of Jesus add to the Law of the Lord, in which everything is defined, pointed out, specified and said? Thus it is written in the ancient Law: “When you meet the bull of your enemy or his missing donkey, you will have to bring them back to him. When you see the ass of your enemy collapse under the load, do not leave it to itself: stay with him to loosen it from the load” (Ex 23: 4-5). If you, man, seeing the ass of your enemy lost or slumped, you must lend your help, and we are talking of a donkey, much more you must provide relief for a man. The general law is before the particular law. On the contrary, the particular law is at the service of the General law. You, a priest and a Levite, see a man slumped and half dead. You do not have to pretend you have not seen him. The general law comes before the particular law of your state. If the donkey is not slumped or is not lost, we enter the General Law that it is up to the master to take care of it. General charity must be organized according to the Law of God. All of us are obliged to immediate charity.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints, give the Christian the holy discernment to live charity.