Luke 10:25-37
Every parable can reach us in different ways. If we see ourselves in one of the characters, the story will speak to us in one way; if we step into the shoes of another character, it will say something different. We often hear today’s parable as an invitation to be like the Good Samaritan, showing kindness and generosity to the one in need. But the story can also be heard from the point of view of the wounded traveller, lying by the roadside, half dead.
We all know what it is to be broken at times. We can be broken in body through illness, broken in spirit after a painful loss, or simply worn down and exhausted. In Jesus’ parable, the Jewish traveller is helped not by those he might have expected (the priest or the Levite) but by someone he would have thought of as an enemy, the Samaritan. The compassion of God came to him through the most unlikely of people.
The story reminds us that in our own moments of weakness, the Lord may come to us in ways that surprise us. God’s mercy can reach us through people we least expect, even those with whom we may feel we share little. This parable thus invites us to keep our hearts open to everyone around us and to the unexpected. God draws near in the most surprising ways and at the most unexpected times.
Our very small engraving (only 7.9 by 10.9cm. ; 3 1/8 × 4 5/16 in.) depicts the Good Samaritan carefully lifting the wounded traveller onto his donkey. The traveller lies limp, completely vulnerable. We can feel the weight of having to lift him up. Behind them, in the background, is the inn where the Good Samaritan is arriving to deliver the wounded man. Printing was invented by Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz around 1450, and within a generation the printing press had spread across Europe. By the early 1500s, books, pamphlets, and woodcut images were being produced on a large scale, fuelling the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the wider spread of knowledge. Alongside letterpress printing, printmaking as an art form (woodcuts, engravings, and etchings) flourished. By the time when our print was made in 1554, printmaking was well established across Europe, with engravers such as our artist Heinrich Aldegrever producing detailed, finely worked prints.
by Father Patrick van der Vorst
