A: 30th of OrdTime (29 Oct 2017) - LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOR - Mt 22:34-40

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt 22:39).

The Greek word “plesion” is used in the New Testament (NT) to refer to “neighbor” (e.g., Mk 12:31; Lk 10:36; Rom 15:2; Jas 4:12). However, “plesion” is literally the neuter form of the adjective “plesios” which adverbially means “nearby”. This is very clear in its usage in Jn 4:5: “So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near [“plesion”] the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph”. The term then is a word used to point to a proximate location, and when adapted to human persons would mean “somebody who is physically nearby” regardless if he/she is your friend or enemy.

This is not the case in the Old Testament world, where the neighbor is mostly adjudged to be one’s relative, co-member in a tribe or clan, or a friendly visitor. See for instance Ex 2:3: “Why do you strike your fellow Hebrew” (“plesion”). This mentality is carried over in the NT. That is why a lawyer questioned Jesus when he began to teach about loving one’s neighbor: “And who is my neighbor?” (Lk 10:29). He was presupposing that the neighbor is a fellow Jew, but Jesus narrated the story of the Good Samaritan to demonstrate that an enemy can be a neighbor. Still, he appeared not solved with the innovative idea; that is why in verse 37 he didn’t pronounce the name “Samaritan” but simply said the impersonal note: “the one who showed him mercy.”

We thank God that the 5-month-war in Marawi is finally over. We thank also all who worked and sacrificed their very lives for the liberation of a city from an alleged terrorist group. From this experience, we witnessed the value of bravery, camaraderie, and brotherhood: we are one nation and we ought to be in the defense of one another. However, the question that still lingers is “Are we exemplifying these same virtues after the war?”

Last Thursday, an alleged Maute terrorist was caught by the military as a Prisoner of War. Defenseless and almost naked, he was hit by some of those around him as caught in a cellphone video. Earlier, there was also a disgusting suggestion from an architect in the rehabilitation of the city of Marawi to retain the bullet-hit-walls of buildings to be a “Great Reminder” of the evils of terrorism. Both these examples I think are uncalled for if we want the Muslims and Maranawons to recover from their traumatic past. If they are truly our neighbors, we should equally show them compassion, sensitivity, and care, as we do to our own kinsmen.

“Plesion” simply means the person next you regardless of who he/she is: be an acquaintance, a stranger, or even an enemy. We are mandated by Jesus to love them as ourselves. The most convincing justification for this rationale is actually given to us by the First Reading: “You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt”(Ex 22:20).

Some four hundred years ago, we Filipinos were all once the oppressed in society. May we not return the favor when we are now at the upper hand.

- Rex Fortes, CM