The Gospel today presents us with two great questions. First is how to inherit eternal life, which the scholar answers correctly when asked by Jesus. The second great question is, “And, who is my neighbor?” Jesus answers with the parable we are all familiar with, the Good Samaritan, who tends to the victim who was passed over by others and left on the side of the road to die.

So, how would we respond to Jesus if we were asked the same questions? Most of us would likely respond like the scholar, 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.

But how would we define our “neighbor” if Jesus were to press us to answer, rather than to share the Good Samaritan parable? Would we, like the scholar, hope for a very narrow definition of neighbor? The person with whom we share a lot line in our neighborhood or the person across the hall in our apartment building? The person we always sit behind at Mass and chat with on the way out of church?

Or would our neighbor include the unknown person who lives in “the rough part of town” or in the basement of our apartment building, or the Muslim who faithfully prays at her mosque? Are they our neighbors too?

Through the parable Jesus reminds us that regardless of a person’s religion, race, creed or poverty, they must be viewed as our neighbors and loved if we are truly seeking God’s salvation.

And now for the task that is easier said than done.

If we are going to love our neighbor, we cannot stay sheltered in our affluent zip codes but must venture out and see the disparities in our world that limit the freedoms and choices our neighbors are allowed to make each day. 

When we see injury and pain, we must not cross to the other side of the road, but rather, act. For what good is it to call oneself a Christian if we are not willing to demonstrate our faith outside the walls of our church?

And we must do our part, as painful as it might be, to urge our traditional neighbors to also see those less fortunate, not as addicts on the street or a lost generation unwilling to work, but as neighbors whom they must love in thought, word and deed. By sharing our financial resources and our most valuable asset, our time, we can demonstrate our true love and compassion for all of our neighbors.

We live in a beautiful world, God’s world, but we can make it better. Maybe we all need to channel a little Mr. Rogers and remember the lyrics to his signature song, Would you be mine, could you be mine, Won't you be my neighbor? Won't you, please? Won't you, please? Please, won’t you be my neighbor?