Fratelli tutti

As we return to the encyclical we do so at the point where Pope Francis is introducing the Good Samaritan parable into the narrative of our daily lives. When Jesus taught the people he did a lot of it through parables and those parables are important for us as templates within our world to see how we should react to the world around us through the eyes of Jesus Christ. The people mentioned in the Good Samaritan are: the man on the road to Jericho; the thieves who rob him and leave him for dead; the levite and the priest, the two of them people attached to religion in a formal, institutional way; the innkeeper and the Samaritan man. Pope Francis deals with all aspects of the parable to outline what he wishes to discuss. Before we enter into detail within the encyclical maybe it would be a good idea for us to look at the parable in a very basic way for ourselves first. This is a parable that we have heard and read many times. It is one that we could take very much for granted. It might be no harm for us to look at the passage in its entirety again saying to ourselves that we will take our time reading it and refreshing ourselves with what it has to say. Let us try to look at it through the eyes of each of the characters. It is in Luke’s Gospel 10: 29-37. To see it in its immediate context read verses 25 to 28 of that chapter as well.

As we re-explore the parable for ourselves let us also pray that we may find as we explore the encyclical ways of helping the Holy Father to put what he is asking into practice as best we can.