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December 18,1980 PAGE 5 The Point Of Good Samaritan Parable BY FATHER PHILIP J. MURNION The Parable of the Good Samaritan contains the basic lesson given by Jesus on caring for others. The point of the story often is missed. After describing the two negligent passers-by and the Samaritan who helped a man who had been beaten and robbed, Jesus asked, “Who was the neighbor?” The Samaritan became the neighbor by getting involved in the victim’s situation, by finding out what the victim needed. This is what more and more parishes are doing as they reach out to their own members and to others in their communities. Once, during a discussion among members of a parish staff, the group was asked to list all known obstacles to fostering a sense of community among parishioners. Here is one obstacle cited: “People do not understand what Christian charity means.” Prodded to explain further, someone in the group suggested that this implied the staff should work on teaching what charity means. Another staff member said, “People simply will not reach out to help neighbors who are having troubles.” “Why not?” the group was asked? “Because they are afraid,” a priest responded. “People do not know what they are getting into or whether they will get in over their heads. They also fear their offer to help may be resented.” I find this exchange quite illuminating. For it seems that fear, rather than a failure to understand the meaning of charity, can be a major obstacle for almost anyone, almost anywhere. To overcome fear, then, perhaps parishes and their people will want to think about ways to provide support so that people will not feel they are alone when they reach out to their neighbors. It seems to me that people do want to help one another. They want to be generous and to help take care of each other. But fear often restrains them from following their best intentions. Fear can even keep family members from reaching out to help each other. Another obstacle to caring for others can be lack of information. People often do not know what needs other people actually have. People may need help, then, to learn about various needs - firsthand, whenever possible. What a difference it can make when people see for themselves the needs that exist. A third obstacle can sometimes be found in the growth of professional and governmental agencies. Sometimes people feel that they are already helping meet society’s needs through the taxes they pay. They may also feel that professional agencies are better equipped to handle people’s needs. On the other hand, anyone familiar with agencies knows how limited their help can be in some cases. Nothing can replace personal care; there is such a great need to relate to others in their own terms. There is a great need for parishes and their people to counteract the idea that all the charity that is needed in society is available because of the IRS or because of professional agencies. I think many people fear being taken advantage of and hold off from helping others. Yet once they do get involved, they see quite quickly how much they have to offer. Many parishes nowadays are providing service within their local communities by monitoring agencies to make sure the intended services are provided. And they are helping to make people aware of the specific kinds of help that are available through public agencies. Caring for each other is central to the Christian way of life. Furthermore, this is the responsibility of all Christians who sometimes do amazing things. Consider a few examples: 1. A suburban Minnesota parish is involved in bail hearings in city courts. 2. An urban parish has set up a program in which the elderly call and visit other elderly shut-ins. 3. A Texas parish helps whole families to actively care for other families. 4. In Little Rock, Ark., teen-agers are involved in peer ministry to other teen-agers in jail. 5. A Louisiana parish has numerous couples who help younger engaged people prepare for marriage. The list could be endless. People today are discovering new ways to exercise old concerns and are reaching out to neighbors in need and to the hungry and impoverished around the world. Parishes are offering people the opportunity to become neighbors to others, in the manner of the Good Semaritan. Discussion Points And Questions 1. What reason does Father Philip Mumion give to explain why people are hesitant to help others? Do you agree with his analysis? 2. Can professional agencies serve as an obstacle when it comes to individuals helping others? Why is such help only of limited benefit, according to Father Mumion? 3. Why does Father Mumion say that caring for others is central to the Christian life? 4. What suggestion does the senior in Ann Murphy’s story have for helping the elderly? 5. In what ways can parents and children be helpful to each other, according to Mrs. Murphy? 6. Father John Castelot explains St. Paul’s conviction that Jesus calls Christians to live in communities of unity and love. What is the purpose of such communities? Discuss. 7. Think about your immediate family and your extended family, your parents, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles. When have family members needed help? What kind of help? Where did they find the aid they required? 8. Which do you find more difficult: trying to help others or needing help from others? Why? 9. What specific needs exist in your community? How can your parish and its people help to meet those needs? CARING FOR ONE ANOTHER is central to the people do amazing things. (NC Sketch by Christopher Christian way of life. When parishes discover the needs of McDonough) their people and respond to those needs they often find that Life-Giving, Life Sustaining Communities BY FATHER JOHN J. CASTELOT St. Paul reacted rather negatively when he heard that some Corinthian Christians were filing civil lawsuits against other Christians of their community. The more one reads and reflects on Paul’s letters, especially First Corinthians, the more one is struck by the supreme importance he attaches to the idea and reality of Christian community. No matter what specific problem he may be treating in his parishes, the underlying concern always seems to be that of community. Christians are not just a group of like-minded individuals who happen to get together for dialogue and common effort. They are united in a person, Jesus Christ. They become, in a very real sense, a person, a corporate person. The unity of Christians is thus not accidental or simply functional; it is organic, life-giving, life-sustaining. Christians don’t so much form community, as the community forms them. This has obvious implications for their mutual, interpersonal relationships. Its implications for the relations of Christians to society at large, while not so obvious, are no less real and serious. It is as a community that Christians demonstrate in a fragmented world that people, in Christ Jesus, really can live together in love and understanding, peace, harmony and mutual support. If Christians fail to give this witness, they are not fulfilling their Christian Vocation; if they give a contrary witness, they are positively perverting their mission, contradicting their very reason for being. These considerations help us to appreciate Paul’s reaction to the situation he faces in First Corinthians, Chapter 6. It has come to his attention that some community members are filing suits against fellow Christians in the civil courts. Today we may find nothing unusual about this - it is the accepted thing. But Paul was not of our culture and so viewed matters rather differently. He may have had in the back of his mind the little Jewish communities scattered throughout the empire. These communities tended to be quite self-contained, following their own laws and customs, and even judging cases in their own courts according to their own law code. They did not hang their dirty linen out for the whole world to see. In any case, Paul is aghast once more. He appeals to them, not without a touch of irony, by alluding to a popular Old Testament belief that the “saints” would judge the world. If that is true - and with their native conceit the Corinthians are all too willing to believe that they will judge even “the angels” - then surely they should be competent to handle their own everyday disputes. The Corinthians boast of their wisdom. Well, then, “Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a case between one member of the church and the other?” Paul exposes a really raw nerve with the next question: “Must brother drag brother into court, and before unbelievers at that?” The Christians are supposed to transform society, not scandalize and disillusion it. If they really were living the gospel ideal, they would shun vindictiveness in the first place, “turn the other check,” forgive and forget. “Why, the very fact that you have lawsuits against one another is disastrous for you,” Paul says. The Christians are supposed to have abandoned the standards and procedures of the pagan world. Christians have been “washed, consecrated, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” This is the ideal toward which the Christians should be striving. But Paul is realistic enough to know that the ideal is not attainable overnight. It is a goal. In the meantime, the least the people can do is to settle their inevitable squabbles among themselves and give witness to the world that a community can maintain its unity of love and harmony even in spite of human tensions. “WHEN I WAS HUNGRY you gave me to eat.” Ken Sands and Tom Kroes, students from St. Catherine’s High School in Racine, Wis., load Christmas baskets with food and toys for delivery to needy families. (NC Photo by Mark Hertzberg) A Winning Story BY ANN MURPHY “Your assignment: to write a story about people helping others,” Sister Margaret Rose Young announced. Twenty-five high school students looked at her questioningly. They wondered. “What does she want?” “How shall we begin?” But Sister Young gave no additional instructions. She wanted the students to think for themselves. She herself had been thinking about the great many needs people have in society today. She felt there was a need to use imagination in identifying those needs and clear thinking about how to respond to them. Sister Young watched her class tear out paper, break pencils, scratch their heads and open dictionaries. She intended to have the best story printed in the high school yearbook. As the clock struck midnight, Sister Young turned to the last paper. It was written by John Merrivale, a new student writing his first paper for her. Merrivale used familiar words to begin his paper. When I was hungry you gave me to eat; When I was thirsty you gave me to drink. When I was homeless you opened your door. . . . The student then asked what doors need opening in our worlds: “Could we open our doors not only for the homeless, but also for the lonely? Perhaps we could invite new neighbors to our homes and - whoever they may be - let them know we welcome them to our street or our apartment building. Maybe we could help people find their way around when they first arrive.” Searching for kindness, You held out your hand. . . Here he spoke of the consideration family members need from each other. “Parents show kindness to children in many ways - by talking with them and listening; by forgiving them; sometimes just by smiling.” Merrivale also talked about what young people might do for their parents. For instance, he wrote, “teen-agers can give more time to their parents, keep their parents informed about the plans, the hopes and the problems that are part of their young world. That, he said, would be a kind thing to do. He continued: “Sometimes children act as if they don’t care. Sometimes parents are preoccupied or seem too busy to be concerned with their children’s problems.” But parents and children can keep trying, he wrote. They can always make it clear that they care, understand and want to help. Seeking employment, you found me a job. . . “Jobs are hard to find,” the student wrote. “Could people help each other find good jobs - by talking together, sharing ideas in clubs and in neighborhood organizations? Many job opportunities could be made known in informal ways. We accomplish little when we are isolated, but when we share with others, we can truly move mountains.” When I was aged you bothered to smile... Here Merrivale talked about how older people often feel left out and useless. “But when you take time to smile and to talk with older persons, it can turn their world back to sunshine again” He said it was time for society to begin to think a bit more about the value of the elderly, the contribution they can make to society and to families. When I was laughed at you stood by my side. When I was happy, you shared in my joy. Now enter into the home of my Father. ... The student’s essay ended here. Sister Young reflected that she had been a Religious for a long time yet her students continued to surprise and inspire her each year. She thought to herself how much the young man’s personality shone through his paper, showing him as a person who cared and tried to give, who recognized a need to think about the real needs of the world. Sister Young said to herself: “I like this. I’ll have him read his story to the class, and then we’ll all continue to work together to see what needs exist in the world around us i and what we can do about them. ' KNOW YOUR FAITH (All Articles On This Page Copyrighted 1980 By N.C. News Service) s _ 4