THE GOOD SAMARITAN (LUKE 10:25-37)

 The Congregation of Mercedarian Sisters of Charity (1878-2023)

Readings: Exodus 3:7-12; Luke 10: 25-37

1. THE VOCATION TO MERCEDARIAN LIFE IS YOUR SPECIFIC IDENTITY OF THE CHARISM

a) Value of your Identity: Vocation to Mercedarian life is your specific identity. The root of the Congregation tree is the charismatic identity. There is the beauty of your identity in your charism for which God has been faithful through His presence. 

b) Vocation precedes mission: Before God sent Moses on Mission, God called Moses through a remarkable event. God appeared to Moses in the flame of fire at the burning bush. And there he reveals his identity. The vocation precedes and the mission succeeds. God says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you” (Jer 1:5). This experience is a must for all the members of this religious family. Moses was nobody before God chose him, but he became a leader and prophet because of God. God is your project, he is your dream, and he is everything to you. Do not start any work without his intervention. “All that we do is for the good of humanity, of God, by God, and for God.” (Blessed Father Zegrí).

c) The burning bush refers to Holy Spirit’s action, who always worked for 145 years and still works for the living charism. Charism is not obsolete, or antique, but transforming and changing. 

2. THE MERCIFUL GAZE OF THE SAMARITAN

a) Merciful gaze from the Father: God says to Moses in the first readings, “I have observed, I have heard, I know their sufferings. I came down to liberate them from their slavery”. It is not your task/job/ministry. You are participating in the work of God’s redemption. Your charism is a redemptive charity service in order to the full liberation of the human being. We need to look at our poor in the way how Jesus looked at Matthew (Mt 9:9), Zacchaeus (Lk 19:2) & the paralytic man (Jn 5) 

b) No to the culture of Indifference: Priests and Levite passed by on the other side because they had proper roles and functions to exercise in society. “Touching a dead body rendered priests and Levites ceremonially unclean and so unable to fulfill temple commitments (Lev. 21-22). Sometimes, we need to take risks showing our love to the poor which may demand our time, energy and space. It may take away your time. 

c) Look at the poor creatively: Do not condemn, judge and underestimate. Read the different methods to evangelize them through our charity. Look at them as they have body, mind and soul. Our charity includes integral development. 

3. FIDELITY IN THIS RELIGIOUS FAMILY UNTIL THE END 

Fidelity: Faithfulness of your charism and mission in the church. “Then the Samaritan put the wounded man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend”. Charity should be done in its fullness. Do not give yourselves half, but give your full commitment on the day of the 140th anniversary. Face the daily challenges – Think of the presence of Providential God –‘Faithfulness’ is our response to God's fidelity.