We encounter this man in our Gospel who was beaten and left half dead. He would of died if it were not for the intervention of others. He needed the assistance of both the Good Samaratian and the inn keeper in order to be nursed back to proper health.
Likewise, we too are in need of others for we too have been beaten and left half dead. The Fathers of the Church explain that this statement “left half dead” refers to the reality of sin especially that which we have inherited through the Fall where Adam and Eve chose to rebel against God. We too inherit these results of the Fall. Thankfully through our baptism, original sin has been washed away, but we still feel the pull towards sin and we even succumb to its grasp. We call this concupisence.
We are in need of others for we cannot become saints through our own merits. Rather, we need the assistance of others. Precisely we need the assistance of Christ Jesus and we need the assistance of the Church. The Good Samamatain is Christ and the inn keeper is the Church who nourtures us back to proper health.
How many souls that I run into who have lost hope in this reality. They know that they have sinned, but instead of seeking out the aid of another they try to overcome its grasp through their own merits. There is nothing that we can achieve independent from God. If we are to seperate ourself from sin we are in need of God and His infinite mercy. We are in need of the sacraments. We are in need of the grace which is ourpoured through them. This man would of died had it not been for the Good Samaratian and the inn keeper.
Likewise, there would be no hope for us and our for salvation had it not been for Christ and His gift of the Church. The Good Samaratian gave assistance to this man, but what would of happened to him had he not been left in the confines of the inn? Some claim that they do not need the Church because they are spiritual. This passage proves that we need the Church for without it we lack the sacraments, without it we lack what Christ has handed on to us, and without it we lack the unity of believers who are unified in the Most Holy Eucharist.
