Before Being Believers…
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Pope Leo XIV recently gave a short reflection on the parable of the Good Samaritan
found in Luke 10. Despite the briefness of the audience, the pope’s address was
refreshingly full of powerful ideas that were clear and applicable.
His meditation on the Good Samaritan highlighted some important parts of Christianity,
that can perhaps be forgotten. I want to highlight one here.
The Holy Father notices, first of all, that the priest and the Levite are coming from
religious business. They have been serving in the Temple, dutifully performing
whatever service was necessary. They “are in a hurry to return home”, the pope says.
In their haste, they avoid the man lying in the road, in need of help. Somehow, despite being dutifully religious folk, Pope Leo notices that “the practice of worship does not automatically lead to being compassionate”. The two men, the priest and the Levite, could not interrupt their journey, could not take a pause in their day, to spend the time necessary to help.
Because of this, the Holy Father gives a powerful and pithy statement about the Christian life: “Before being believers, we are called to be human.”
It should be clarified what he is NOT saying by this statement, and what he is saying by this statement.
What he is not saying is that to be Christian is merely to be a humanistic do-gooder.
What he is saying is that a true Christian will be compassionate, empathic, and full of love for God and neighbor. At its deepest level, a Christian will love with the sacrificial love that characterized Our Lord Jesus. Absent this, a person has fully understood the Gospel message.
The Holy Father questions us: “Will we too be capable of interrupting our journey and having compassion?”
Reflection is taken from the General Audience of Pope Leo XIV on May 28th, 2025.
About the Author
M.T. Mitchell is the managing editor at Spirit of Wisdom Press. He is a Catholic author and speaker who holds humanistic, philosophical, and theological degrees, specializing in Spiritual Theology.
He has written Generations of Grace, Sanctity Simplified, By Mercy’s Light, and Volumes I & II of the All Things New commentary on the Catholic lectionary.
An avid oil painter and writer, he lives with his wife and son in North Carolina.