There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read it?" He said in reply, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." He replied to him, "You have answered correctly; do this and you will live." But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn, and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, 'Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.' Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers' victim?" He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." Reflection for the fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time We come today to listen to God's word and celebrate the Eucharist. Gathered together in this place, we look around and see our neighbors. Many of them are people much like us. The neighbor in today's Gospel - the good Samaritan - is not. Samaritans were seen as outcasts by the Jewish people who frequented the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Yet it was the foreigner, this outsider, this stranger, who is the true neighbor to the Jewish victim. May hearing this parable expand our understanding of "neighbor" as it moves our hearts to reach out to those not like us. Moses speaks to a sinful people in the first reading, pleading with them to keep the LORD's commandments as they repent with their whole heart and soul. In the Gospel, a scholar of the law - of all God's commandments - goes one step further, asking Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, Realizing that love one's neighbor is at the heart of the answer, he asks Jesus who his neighbor is. It is in this context that Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan, asking the questioner who was the true neighbor. May today's readings inspire us to accept the challenge to treat all others - friends or stranger - as worthy of our love.