Deeper Reflection
THROUGHOUT THIS WEEK LEADING UP TO NEW LIFE SUNDAY with its theme “To Love the Community as Christ Does”, we will be reflecting deeper on the parable of the Good Samaritan.The priest walked by. The Levite walked by. Presumably they had something to get to, perhaps temple duty. If they stopped to help the injured man, they would have risked becoming unclean and thus unfit to perform their duties. Or they might have been afraid. Pausing to help the man may make them vulnerable to attack by robbers.Today, we Christians also appear to have valid reasons for not pausing to help those around us. The report we need to finish. The child we need to pick up. The project we need to run. We have so much to deal with that helping the needy means we must interrupt our own lives. For example, it means waking up early to distribute food to migrant workers on a daily basis.³⁹ It means using our precious Saturdays to clean up the flats of elderly or disabled people. Or making special efforts to help kids with special needs do better in school. Or sometimes going without dinner to make it on time to help Steady Readers kids with their English twice a week. Or giving up weekends to mentor kids and youths who may not be appreciative. Or spending mornings to connect with lonely seniors. All these seem like such huge sacrifices. Until we remember that Christ left heaven for earth to save us from our sins. He laid down His life for us. As Christ’s disciples, shouldn’t we follow His example?

---

³⁹ Thousands of migrant workers were locked down in factory-converted dormitories in 2020 without adequate basic necessities during the COVID-19 pandemic. A lot of time and energy were joyfully spent by many Christians over several months to contact suppliers of cooked food and logistics, coordinate church volunteers, collect and distribute the daily meals and basic necessities to hundreds of migrant workers.