THE FAMILY ALTAR

September 14.

"Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor untc

him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that showed

mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise."

Luke 10:36-37

In answer to a certain lawyer's question : "Who is my neigh-

bor?" our Lord tells the story of the Good Samaritan. But note

how He changes the question of the self-righteous scribe! The

scribe had asked: "Who is my neighbor?" The Lord in reply

asks: To whom are you a neighbor? meaning to say: "If there

is true love in your heart, according to God's holy Law, you will

not debate long with yourself, when you find a fellow-man in want

or danger, whether you are to help him or not, but you will assist

him at once ; for it is just this needy fellow-being whom God now

shows you as your neighbor." So the Good Samaritan acted. He

did not, like the priest and the Levite, in cold indifference pass by

the wounded man lying helpless by the wayside, but helped him

at once in self-sacrificing, tireless, sympathetic love. If this scribe

ever followed the pattern of true love for the neighbor which the

Lord held up to him in the example of the Good Samaritan, he

no doubt soon learned that he did not have this self-sacrificing love

and therefore could not inherit eternal life by his keeping of the

Law. For if he did not even know who his neighbor was, how

could he love his neighbor as himself? And if he did not love his

fellow-men whom he could see, how could he love God whom he

could not see? Through this example of the Good Samaritan this

scribe and we all are to learn, first of all, our utter inability to

save ourselves by our own imperfect deeds of love, and are to be

led to believe in Him who came down from heaven to save in His

self-sacrificing, merciful love our human race, wounded unto death

by sin and the devil. Only when His mercy has filled our hearts

will we learn to be Good Samaritans to our needy fellow-men and

to show mercy even to our enemies.