Compassion 27 LUN ORD 2

A man fell victim to robbers and a priest happened to be going down that road, even if he was coming from anywhere, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side,  and went nowhere. Likewise a Levite came to the place, coming from nowhere, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side, and went nowhere. A priest of the temple and the Levite, a clergyman, were coming back from the temple, but actually they were coming from nowhere, and after having passed by the wounded man, they went nowhere.
Why were the priest of the temple and the clergy man coming from nowhere and going nowhere?  It is because the steps of someone who lives without mercy and compassion for his/her brothers come from nowhere and go nowhere.  Working, struggling, planning,  growing, committing oneself, leading, sacrificing oneself, selling, buying, marrying, procreating, cultivating, building, owning, searching, travelling, saving, believing, praying, educating, listening, seeing, touching, producing, manufacturing, organizing, sowing, rising, studying, understanding without compassion and mercy do not lead anywhere, do not bring anything, do not change anything, do not generate anything. Any moment of our earthly life lived without mercy and compassion has no sense, no meaning; it is a moment that comes from nowhere and leads nowhere. Until man chooses to learn to live in mercy and compassion, his life will go nowhere; it will remain a still life, motionless, a life that will not take any steps towards God’s life.  What is mercy? The Gospel uses the term èleos. Èleos – etymologically  “what cuts, tears the soul”, from which “mercy, compassion” – is the normal translation, in the Greek version of the Old Testament, of the Hebrew word chesèd, the word of covenant, meaning unconditional, unwavering, faithful, steady love. But  Èleos is the translation of another Hebrew word: rachamìm, the plural of rèchem, literally “the bowels”, or, more exactly, “the maternal womb”. Èleos, unconditional love, God’s womb, translates finally the very name of God: merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity (Exodus 34:6).
But here, in this part of the Gospel, there is something new. Èleos is used in a different way, different from how it is generally used in ufficial ranslations. The Greek text does not say have mercy but do mercy. Èleos is, therefore, an action, not an emotional state, it is an intervention that requires action, not feelings. It is not something one has, but something one does. We do not know for sure where the Samaritan who helped the wounded man was coming from, but we know for sure where, after having done mercy to his neighbour, he was going: towards life, God’s life.  The Samaritan did mercy, and true mercy is recognizable because it is not ‘substitutive charity’, it is not the kind of help that creates dependence or submission, but one with very precise characteristics: it is an intelligent, mature, wise and freeing help because it is immediate, well timed and appropriate.