Day 6 - March 13

 

2021 Virtual Lenten Retreat

WHO’S YOUR NEIGHBOR

Day 6 – March 13

 Today’s Reading

A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead….  But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds…. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. (cf. Luke 10:25-37)

 The Pope’s Reflection

   Let us turn at last to the injured man. 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 a few, without and within. Indeed, “globalized society often has an elegant way of shifting its gaze. Under the guise of being politically correct or ideologically fashionable, we look at those who suffer without touching them. We televise live pictures of them, even speaking about them with euphemisms and with apparent tolerance”.

   Each day offers us a new opportunity, a new possibility….  Today we have a great opportunity to express our innate sense of fraternity, to be Good Samaritans who bear the pain of other people’s troubles rather than fomenting greater hatred and resentment….  We may often find ourselves succumbing to the mentality of the violent, the blindly ambitious, those who spread mistrust and lies. Others may continue to view politics or the economy as an arena for their own power plays. For our part, let us foster what is good and place ourselves at its service.

   …Let us seek out others and embrace the world as it is, without fear of pain or a sense of inadequacy, because there we will discover all the goodness that God has planted in human hearts. Difficulties that seem overwhelming are opportunities for growth, not excuses for a glum resignation that can lead only to acquiescence. Yet let us not do this alone, as individuals. The Samaritan discovered an innkeeper who would care for the man; we too are called to unite as a family that is stronger than the sum of small individual members. For “the whole is greater than the part, but it is also greater than the sum of its parts”. Let us renounce the pettiness and resentment of useless in-fighting and constant confrontation. Let us stop feeling sorry for ourselves and acknowledge our crimes, our apathy, our lies. Reparation and reconciliation will give us new life and set us all free from fear. (cf. #76, 77, 78)

 For Reflection or Discussion

The pope’s main point here is that it is easy to be overwhelmed by how much need we encounter, and just turn away.

-- Do you ever look at the size and number of needs begging for attention and say to yourself, “How could I possibly know which is the most serious or most urgent?”

-- What might help you discern when and where to help?

-- Do you feel that you allow feeling sorry for yourself to become an excuse for apathy and denial?

> What can you do about this?

 Closing Prayer

Let us stand before the cross of Jesus: the silent throne of God. Let us daily contemplate his wounds. In them, we recognize our emptiness, our shortcomings, the wounds of our sin and all the hurt we have experienced. Yet there too, we see clearly that God points his finger at no one, but rather opens his arms to embrace us.

In life’s most painful wounds, God awaits us with his infinite mercy. Because there, where we are most vulnerable, where we feel the most shame, he came to meet us. And having come to meet us, he now invites us to return to him, to rediscover the joy of being loved.