CRS Rice Bowl: The Good Samaritan Challenges Us To Pray

The Parable of the Good Samaritan reminds us that prayer is an encounter with Christ, present in the faces of every member of our human family. This is a story about people encountering one another on one of life’s roads. So many of us are tempted to pass by another person without recognizing their need, their common dignity. In this story, that’s not the case. The Samaritan, traveling down the road, was “moved with compassion at the sight.” This is the moment of encounter—a prayerful experience of seeing Christ in the face of the stranger. We must be open to experiencing God in our encounter with others. In fact, this can be a powerful form of prayer. What if we aren’t encountering someone on a physical road? We can still encounter others in our prayer by calling to mind their stories, the faces of individuals on the news, etc. How can we embody this in our prayer this Lent? How can our Lenten prayer be both a moment of encounter and a “walking with” our fellow travelers on life’s roads?