Pope Francis sees “inertia,” but many people experience upheaval.
71. The story of the Good Samaritan is constantly being repeated. We can see this clearly as social and political inertia is turning many parts of our world into a desolate byway, even as domestic and international disputes and the robbing of opportunities are leaving great numbers of the marginalized stranded on the roadside.
I think the inertia is old ways of being human–racism and sexism especially–are being challenged, questioned, and discarded. And the whites are in resistance.
In his parable, Jesus does not offer alternatives; he does not ask what might have happened had the injured man or the one who helped him yielded to anger or a thirst for revenge. Jesus trusts in the best of the human spirit; with this parable, he encourages us to persevere in love, to restore dignity to the suffering and to build a society worthy of the name.
I’d add that Jesus invites the believer to notice what is happening in the present moment. What gesture of mercy presents itself to us in our daily life? How can we act on it?
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