06.05 Thorough service

V. THOROUGH SERVICE The service of the Good Samaritan is thorough. He discerns and meets all the requirements of the case. He binds up the wounds, he pours in oil and wine, he carries to an inn, he provides for the future. He aims at the entire restoration of the poor stranger. Thus true charity is not content till it has thought out the real need of each case, and the best means of meeting it so as to prevent its recurrence. That thinking out is not easy; it demands time and trouble. In the complexity of social life, each single case of poverty or need is a problem demanding the exercise of the best judgment. If we undertake to meet it we are bound, for its own sake, to give it thought and care, and if we cannot do this, to entrust it to those who can. The parable of the Good Samaritan, so far from encouraging, in truth rebukes haphazard, heedless, indiscriminating charity.

TAGS: [Parables]