Perhaps your elders or parents said something like “if it had teeth it would bite you” when you misplaced your keys or book bag (now it’s “where did I leave my glasses or cell phone!”).

In other words how did you miss this stuff as it was right before your eyes.

Well it seems as if Jesus and Luke the gospel writer has something like this in mind in telling us this parable about the Good Samaritan that is the gospel reading for this sunday in many of our churches.

I suppose there are many reasons for our “selective blindness” of a brother and sister in need.

We have most likely been in the situation of the priest and the Levite (this is Hebrew for a person who works in a religious setting like a church or synagogue). In other words a person who knows the religious talk but the walk is another issue.

We all have places to go and people to see and things to do. But this selective blindness will not be an excuse when it comes to what Jesus wants us to see. He wants us to look upon every person with the same compassion he has for them.

“Who is my neighbor?’’ the wise guy scribe asks. I think the parable is saying not just ones that I feel sorry for but the ones who may irritate me and take me out of my comfort zone, and who I may have to go out of my way to help out.

And so we pray:

“Lord, we love you. Expand our hearts; help us to love our neighbors. Make us brave enough to cleanse wounds, to give shelter when it is needed, to assist in paying bills, and to lend our helping hands. When we love you in our neighbor, let us find you in ourselves. Amen”