When I read the parable of the Good Samaritan for this course, at first I identified strongly with the priest and the Levite. I have stepped aside, wishing someone "more qualified" would come along ... or some such excuse! The priest, the Levite and me ... all bound by fear.
Then I noticed that Jesus, having answered the lawyer's question"who is my neighbour?" with the parable, asks the lawyer a question of his own: "who do you think was neighbour to the man who fell among robbers?" It was the Good Samaritan, not the beaten man, who is our model of "neighbour" ... he is the one who "showed kindness" to the victim of injustice.
If we, who follow Jesus, take the initiative in showing kindness to all persons equally, we are, in fact, by our actions declaring that all persons are our "neighbours". There is no reason to pass any judgement on the "worthiness" of the afflicted. I am encouraged to overcome my fear of "getting involved" by doing what I can to show compassion right where I am.
St. Francis, wanting to be in all his ways like Jesus, believed that we are all part of the "human family". With Christ-like humility, he sought out the very sick and beaten ones so many of us wish to avoid.
