BEING is DOING
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July 12, 2025The Parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the most well-known parables that we oftentimes use in our reflections, faith sharing and even retreats especially when the theme is about unconditional love towards one another. It would always be easy to identify ourselves with one of the characters in that story. Whether we have acted at times like the priest or the Levite or the Samaritan oreven with the robbers, the story would always lead us to a realization about how we should live our life more meaningfully in relation to unconditional love towards our brothers and sisters.
Sometimes though, it would also be helpful to take a closer look at the questions of the scholar of the law to Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” and “Who is my neighbor?” because these two questions are as important as the parable of the Good Samaritan.
More often, we would think that doing more is what we are supposed to focus on. The more we do, the more chances to get into heaven. The more we focus on doing, the more we have chances to receive eternal life. Eternal life is treated as an achievement or a reward of doing something. Accomplishing something takes a closer step to eternal life. This is doing over being.
Looking more deeply into how Jesus responded to the questions of the man, it is not so much on what to do to achieve eternal life, rather, focus on being, it is being able to be a neighbor to one another. It is not just a question of “who is my neighbor?” but more importantly, “am I a neighbor to my brothers and sisters?” It is being able to live out the law of love not just doing the law of love,being able radiate the love of God not just acting out the love of God. Doing is external, being isinternal. Who should I be not just what should I do.
But this doesn’t mean setting aside the doing part and would do nothing at all. Our being becomes the driving force for our doing. Our being would let us give a deeper meaning to our identity as somebody capable of loving unconditionally. This is not foreign to us for this is inherent in us.
Our First Reading from the Book of Deuteronomy reminds us of this. “For this command I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious and remote to you. It is not up in the sky. . . nor is it across the sea. . . It is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14) In other words, it is imprinted in our soul, in our being, we just had to act it out.