The Generosity Jesus Expects of Us

Colleen Mallette applies the lessons of the Parable of the Good Samaritan in today’s world.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37) is a powerful analogy that Jesus gave us more than 2000 years ago that still applies to our lives today. There are several wonderful lessons we can learn from it.   

Helping Enemies  

While we may not live in Galilee and totally understand the hatred between Jews and Samaritans in Jesus’ day, we certainly have other combative groups in today’s world that we could put into this story. Whether the characters are from different political parties, religious denominations, or just cross-town football rivals, we have many examples of how different groups of people don’t like other groups.   

Helping someone who is physically hurt should come second nature to all of us, especially if we don’t know what church they go to, but if it is someone who is obviously of a different race or social class, it might make people think twice unfortunately. Rather than pulling out our phones to record and post a video of an atrocity occurring in front of us (think of the first two passersby in Jesus’ parable who ignored the opportunity to help), Jesus asks us to stop what we are doing to attend to those hurting, despite their background or beliefs.  

Going Above and Beyond  

As Christians, we try to live the Ten Commandments every day. We do our best to speak and act with kindness, to honor our parents, to open doors for anyone and patiently wait for pedestrians at crosswalks, and to avoid stealing from others or the company we work for, lying, or cheating on our spouses.  

However, this parable teaches that Jesus expects more from us as His followers. The Good Samaritan didn’t just tend to the hurt man’s wounds and leave him on the side of the road. He put the injured man on his donkey and carried him to the nearest town — and paid for all of the expenses incurred in healing all of his wounds.   

That would be like calling your elderly parents to check on them, versus cooking a meal for them and driving it over to share it with them plus staying after dinner to fix a broken appliance. If you're working from home, do you not only stay logged on and work diligently the entire shift, but also avoid looking at any personal devices or websites during work hours?  

Living Out the Parable 

I recently witnessed a Good Samaritan story lived out right in front of me. While leaving a coffee shop with a friend, a car pulled into the parking lot and the driver was waving from his open window. Thinking this person might know my friend who was driving, she stopped and rolled down her window too. It turned out to be a lost elderly gentleman who needed to know where a military museum was near us. I knew the area better than my friend, so I started to explain he needed to turn back around and make one missed turn about a half-mile down the road.  

But before I could even finish explaining that, my friend saw the confusion on his face and immediately told him to turn his car around and follow us so we could lead him to his desired destination. Without hesitating or thinking first about where we were supposed to be going, she sensed his need for help and determined he would be safest following us.

I admired her servant’s heart to go above and beyond, and that she wouldn’t have felt right just giving him directions and not knowing if he actually made it. He was truly so appreciative, and it was only a half mile out of our way — but I think my friend would’ve done the same if it would’ve been 10 miles! 

Jesus didn’t just heal broken bones and leprosy, He healed hurting, lonely souls too. He also never cared or asked what someone's political or religious backgrounds were before helping them. Jesus expects us to also be blind to the differences in others and treat everyone with kindness. Remember this the next time you see someone in need, and try instead to be exceedingly generous.   

Share your thoughts with the Catholic Mom community! You'll find the comment box below the author's bio and list of recommended articles.

Copyright 2025 Colleen Mallette
Images: Canva