Our Good Neighbor God

The word “neighbor” is rooted in the Old English words “near” (neah) and “a dweller” (gebur). A neighbor, then, is one who dwells near. As a boy, I lived in what was called a row home; all the houses on our street were attached. Our neighbors were those who literally lived next door. 

Today’s readings take the definition of a neighbor beyond physical nearness.  When the lawyer asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” he was asking about the requirement of the law that commanded that one love one’s neighbor as oneself.  Jesus’ answer went to the heart of the issue. To be a neighbor was to reach out to help anyone in need, setting aside any barriers that either society or selfishness might set up. To be a neighbor was to open one’s heart to another, recognizing in the other the image of the God who created them. To be a neighbor was to treat another with mercy. 

When Moses said God’s law was “something very near, already in your mouths and in your hearts,” he was presenting God as a true neighbor, as near as our heartbeat. When Paul said Jesus was both the image of the invisible God and the head of his body, the church, could any image better capture the nearness of  Christ and his church? St. Teresa of Ávila echoed this when she said, “Christ has  no body now but yours, no hands or feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes  through which Christ’s compassion looks upon the world.”  

Consider/Discuss

• Is the basic choice to be either a neighbor whose love touches other lives, or a parasite that lives off other lives? 
• Can being a member of Christ’s body move you to drawing nearer to someone today? 

Responding to the Word

God, who placed your law in our hearts, help us to remember your nearness to us in the depths of our being, and to allow your Son’s law of love to guide what we see, say, and do. Increase our openness to your Spirit and how your Spirit guides us.