WRITTEN TH. KIRYGMA

Many rely on their knowledge, their position or their money and play smart with others.

This is what the lawyer, of whom we have heard in today's Gospel, wanted to represent to Christ. And Christ, as the All-Knowing, found the opportunity to put the jurist in his place and to place the concept of the neighbor on a new basis.

The concept of who the neighbor is was a matter of great concern to the pre-Christian world. Everyone formulated and lived it in his own way. But no one grasped it in the breadth and depth that Christ gave it and that history demands.

Human history, as we know it, unfortunately until today, is full of wars and fratricidal conflicts. Horrible actions due to predatory tendencies, envy, envy, empathy, arrogance and selfishness towards the neighbour.

In today's parable of the Good Samaritan, Christ reveals, as a reality and not as a theory, who the neighbor really is. He is not only our friend and our brother, but also our enemy and any human being. It also shows us that true love is spontaneous, undivided, unconditional, practical, and unrestricted.

The priest and the Levite, if they had their own benefits, or if they saw a few eyes to say well done, would surely stand to treat the wounded man. But that is not love, but interest.

True love does not sacrifice others, but is sacrificed for others, that is why it is above all.

Some philosophers of the last two centuries have proclaimed that love, and especially love for the weak and suffering, is weakness. And they proclaimed the power of the superman as the God of our age. That is why we have mourned and tragically mourn so many wars and disasters.

Only love for one's neighbour can tame and save the world. This love was lived and is lived by the Saints, who continue to sanctify.

Saint Paulinus, Bishop of Noulis, having sold all his property to help the poor, in the end sold himself as a slave to free the son of a poor widow. This is true love of neighbor.

This is the measure that Christ gave us throughout His life, which from the beginning to the end was the life of a good Samaritan.

Anyone who wants can freely follow him, because he is worth as much as the eternal Kingdom of God.

Archimandrite Frumentios Demetriou