Where does the story take place? When does the story take place?   

The story of the good Samaritan took place in 480 AD, however, the story is first referred to as the parable of ‘the good Samaritan’ in the early 1600s. This story took place on the path from Jerusalem to Jericho. It was written in a time where Jesus shared many of his parables to humanity.  

Why might the author have written this story?  

The author may have written this story to teach the same lesson Jesus did. In the beginning of the story, a lawyer approaches Jesus asking him, “how do I inherit eternal life?” this could have been a message to anyone reading the bible that acting in service and devotion is how achieve this goal while living on earth. This story teaches important messages of selective ignorance, love, sympathy and care. It demonstrates ignorance in a way that is not negative, but instead demonstrates to the reader that ignoring social standards such as not interacting with Jews. When the good Samaritan does this, its shows courage and mercy to someone who was helpless. Love, care and sympathy was embodied when the good Samaritan took the man in on his own accord, covering his wounds, putting him on his donkey, walking him to Jerusalem and paying for the inn fees. This demonstrates to people the true meaning of God’s love and his plan for humanity. 

Words I need to find meanings for… 

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” 

But he, desiring to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii[a] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” 

 

Levite: 

A Levite is a member of a Hebrew tribe who assists priests in their worships.  

 

Samaritan: 

Samaritan has two meaning, one being a person of charity and compassion and secondly, a group of people who entitle themselves as ancestors of Israelites.  

 

Denarii: 

Denarii is a silver coin from the times of ancient Roman.

Who are the main characters in the story? What do we know about them?
The injured man:
The readers know that the man was ambushed and robbed on his journey through the desert and was left for dead by the priest and Levite. However, he was helped by the good Samaritan who helped him and took him to an inn to heal. 

The Priest:
The readers know that when the priest saw the man, he walked to the other side of the path and continued to walk on his journey, ensuring that he passed the man by without helping him. 

The Levite:
The readers know that the Levite looked at the injured man, thought nothing of him and continued to walk past him. 

The Samaritan:
The readers learn that when the Samaritan saw the injured man, he felt deep pity. So, he soothed his wounds and put the man on his donkey to take him to safety. 

What do we need to find out?
Why was it an expectation that Jew’s and Samaritans could not interact? Where did this rule originate from? What went through their heads of the priest and Levite when this happened and how did they feel afterwards? Did the priest and Levite have any pity on the injured man? What would happen to the good Samaritan if people found out he helped a Jew?

What did the author want people to know about Jesus or about God?
Overall, the author wanted the reader to appreciate God’s wishes for humanity and how we should approach a situation like this. The author wanted the reader to know that to be blessed in God’s eyes, we must follow the teaching of Jesus. In this way, we should be helping our neighbour, no matter who they are, serving other needs before our own, and doing what is right over what is ‘good.’

The author wrote this story to teach a lesson about how to approach social situations similar to this one. For example, in a kid’s playground situation, if someone falls over and scrapes their knee, the story teaches kids to help someone who has hurts themselves, even if their friendship groups don’t get along. This story has many messages that can be extracted and applied to everyday situations. In this way, the ‘good Samaritan’ refers to someone who is charitable, loving, sympathetic and acts with kindness to everyone. Authors today re-write the message of this story constantly because of its strong connection to Christian service and the priestly, prophetic and kingly work it demonstrates. 

What message does this story have for us today? 

This story has many messages for people of today. Some of these include priestly, prophetic and kingly work, kindness, pity, love and service. These values can sometimes be lost in our day-to-day lives but having parables like these around constantly remind us how God wishes us to be. 

Who are examples of the “main character” in our society today? 

Pope Francis:
One of the good Samaritan’s most valued qualities is mercy. Pope Francis demonstrates this quality very often. For example, when the Pope goes out in public, he blesses the poor, heals the sick and sends good wishes to all he meets. Even though the Pope does not know majority of the people he meets, he listens to them, loves them, respects them and prays for them.  

Wesley Autrey:
Wesley demonstrated values of the good Samaritan when he saved a man having a seizure at a subway station. The man had fallen between two subway rails. With the subway only seconds away, he jumped down and retrieved the man, sparing both of their lives. Wesley did just as the good Samaritan did, he helped the man even though his life was endangered too. He saved the man’s life and called the emergency service for him. 

Navy SEALs:
A few years ago, a soccer team in Thailand were stuck in a flooded cave for 2 weeks. The navy SEALs came to rescue the group of boys, coming prepared with oxygen tanks and equipment. Although this was a part of what their job requires, this expedition required courage and strength to get many lives out safe. After getting the entire team out of the cave safely, one of the rescuers was not lucky and picked up a severe blood infection, later dying in hospital. This rescuer demonstrated Samaritan values because he knew the dangers of the dive but continued anyways. He showed courage and strength, saving 12 young boys from drowning and starving. 

Who would a target audience be TODAY for this text and WHY?
This story would be written for many target audiences for many reasons. Some of these include young children who are yet to learn about how to treat others right, people who don’t demonstrate Christian values and people that struggle to be caring and kind. It is important for children to learn about the values of the good Samaritan so that they can grow up to be loving, charitable and sympathetic. People who don’t portray Christian values can sometimes make it hard for other to act justly and like the good Samaritan, so Christian or not, if everyone tried their hardest to be patient, compassionate and empathetic, God vision for a better world would be accomplished. This is why when people give up on kindness, stories like these give guidance and direction to a higher life. 

How and WHY do you think this miracle story/parable may have inspired your reformer?  
This parable definitely inspired Catherine McAuley through the way she treated others and helped them in times of desperate need. Catherine is remembered as one of the most charitable, loving, caring, understand and sympathetic leaders’ people of today can read about and remember. She dedicated her life willingly to people who had nothing, to people who were discriminated for their beliefs, to people whose rights were taken away and to women who worked as prostitutes in the streets to keep food on the table for their families. Catherine showed courage constantly by giving away everything she had to make other people’s lives better and by associating with the poor because others thought it was socially unacceptable. McAuley showed leadership towards the poverty-driven community, towards her sibling in times of despair and grief and to the people who looked up to her as their hero. Catherine lived the quality of charity when she opened a home to helping people who needed it, as well as establishing the sister of mercy to women, children and struggling families. She demonstrated love and support to those who were going through the same situation she was once in, giving the most powerful assistance of hope. Catherine’s entire life was lived in the values of the good Samaritan because of the courageous, loving, empathetic, sympathetic, compassionate and life-changing actions she made every day.  

(Familiar Instructions, p. 2) 

 

Catherine’s says you can never say it was enough. Although this quote of is short, it is not without meaning. Catherine dedicated her life to assisting the poor who had virtually nothing and taking in women and children that had no one else to turn to. Catherine didn’t just help the poor, she went above and beyond to bring ease, peace and love to everyone she could. She gave up on no one and stopped at nothing. Her journey was not without its challenges, but she was resilient and used her experiences to help others. If Catherine were to live forever, there is no doubt that she would help every man, woman and child living in poverty to get through with a sense of hope. This quote inspires other to do more than enough, in fact, so much better that you are always doing what is best for others.  

(Limerick Manuscript, in Sullivan, Catherine McAuey and the Tradition of Mercy, p. 174) 

 

This writing of Catherine is evidence that she is an advocate of God’s love and teachings. She talks about the great works of God that are constantly in progress even when we don’t realise it. When Catherine says, “darkness is spread over us, and light breaks in again, and there is no noise of drawing curtains or closing shutters,” the darkness symbolises the poverty, death and disease that people around her were experiencing. The light represents the close-knit community that was formed in times of despair, being the Sisters of Mercy. The opened curtains that won’t closed embody the fact that there is a community of love and hope, and that no matter what social standards say otherwise, Catherine and her missionary refuse to lose hope for the poor. This quote just goes to show how determined Catherine’s persona was. She didn’t care about what people thought of her work because she knew that it was in God’s plan for her. She gave away everything she had, so that other could be uplifted, knowing that this sacrifice would make many lives better. This is an act of priestly work because Catherine’s work is her sacrifice and God’s wishes and Jesus’ teaching were at the core of her life.  

(Letter to Mary Ann Doyle September 24, 1841) 

 

This writing shows that Catherine was fearless of poverty and illness because she confides in God’s divine timing. Catherine is faithful in God’s work and encourages the people around her that God always pull through, and in times of darkness, we must pray to him and he will deliver.  

Amen.

This prayer was crafted by Catherine and its main purpose is praying for happiness, humble abundance and reconciliation. It asks God for happiness, love and support, but only sadness over sins. This Prayer relates to Catherine's work as a missionary reformer because it reflects her happy, loving nature. It asks for healing and guidance in times of pain, stress and worry. Catherine's work mainly revolved around helping people who lived in poverty, and Catherine herself is asking for help in her work so that she can be successful in touching as many people's lives possible.

O compassionate Jesus,
look on me today with tenderness
and give me the grace to walk on the path of mercy
marked out for those who follow you.
May all I do today reflect your merciful love.
Amen.

This prayer was done before Catherine fed the poor. It talks about Jesus' compassion, tenderness, grace and mercy. In the setting of a group renouncing this prayer, they are all asking for guidance to live in merciful love. This prayer is very fit for the life of Catherine because she constantly lives with love and sympathy toward others when she takes others under her wing and treats them like family.

This section of Rerum Novarum may have inspired Catherine McAuley because it talks about God's view on poverty and relates to how Catherine treated the poor. In Ireland, the poor were not accepted by society because they were dirty and always begging. Catherine used her families good reputation to her advantage, using it to help the poor. Catherine once stated that "there is no goodness in poverty," and thought that those who did not accept the misfortunate had closed hearts, not ready for lovea nd acceptance. 

Catherine’s bespeaks priestly work because her life was bound by the teachings of God, serving others, worship and prayer. Catholicism was the core of her work and spirituality, and this is evident through all her good works as a reformer. Catherine’s motivation and drive came from the empathy she had for the poor. About two years after Catherine’s father died, her family endure great poverty, tearing them apart. As well as losing her mother, Catherine then became responsible for feeding her siblings. Part of her job was helping the poor and misfortunate, however, seeing the growth and uplifting of others, and the happiness her help brought them was rewarding enough for Catherine. Catherine’s great vision was one of equality, happiness, peace, ease and faith, and each day, she worked harder than the last to try and make this happen. Although her work called for immense sacrifice, she made them anyways in confidence because she knew that this was God’s plan for her. Catherine particularly vouched for women and children as they were who suffered the most, and by using her knowledge she had, she educated them and taught them about Jesus and his wonderful words.  

Catherine has demonstrated prophetic work by promoting human dignity and speaking against her society’s injustices. She did so by using her family’s good reputation as an opportunity to serve and educate others and this is how she was able to begin her spiritual journey with the poor. Catherine saw the poor were unappreciated and worked for social integrity, attempting to give them more freedom considering their financial status and religious beliefs. Catherine passionately believed in human dignity, being that everyone should have basic human rights, and at the time, this definitely wasn’t the case. Catherine strived to create more equality amongst wealthy and poor, sick and healthy and Catholics and protestants. She unquestionably made a difference because people in the 21st century still commemorate her for her good efforts.  

Catherine particularly denotes kingly work because she influenced thousands of men, women and children by teaching them about the word of Christ. During the time Elinor (Catherine’s mother) fell incredibly sick, Catherine was left to try and salvage as much money as she could to feed her family. This demonstrated kingly work because Catherine showed leadership and courage towards her family’s poverty and uncontrollable situation and helped them pull through a very tough time. Ireland was going through great hardships, and Catherine used all the means she had to help as many people as possible, making her an example of a kingly worker. Catherine used her family’s social status as an influence to serve under-valued Catholics. Catherine managed the sister of Mercy, poverty house that gave comfort and hope to people through their most despairing times. Catherine helped people live like Jesus by living through his values and beliefs. She promoted peace, love and service through her work and helped so many people to live better lives.