SAINT ANSELM, BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH (OPTIONAL MEMORIAL)

Philip went down to the city of Samaria. 

Philip was preaching the good news—in Samaria, of all places! To understand how radical that would have been in Jesus’ time, we need some context.

The rupture between Jews and Samaritans was as bristling and adversarial as any modern political divide. It was founded on the Jews’ conviction that Samaritans had departed from orthodox beliefs. The hostility, deemed righteous by some Jews, resulted in deeper and deeper avoidance and hatred of one another (John 4:9).

Jesus and his followers had been caught in the ugliness of the divide themselves. One Samaritan village had refused to offer them hospitality (Luke 9:52-53). Another time, someone “insulted” Jesus by calling him a Samaritan, implying that he was as despicable and lawbreaking as they were said to be (John 8:48).

It seems as if the Samaritans were the last people on earth that faithful Jews would want to treat like family. They were more like estranged relatives! So they were the last people on earth to whom the long-awaited Messiah would reveal himself—or at least that’s what many Jews, including the disciples, probably thought.

But Jesus listened to his Father. In unity with the Father’s will, he told his disciples, “I will not reject anyone who comes to me” (John 6:37). His Father willed—as he still does today—that everyone who believes in the Son will have eternal life (6:40). Jesus lived out this deep, wide receptivity by offering the living water of salvation to Samaritans (4:10) and by asking his disciples to witness to them as brothers and sisters (Acts 1:8). In turn, believers like Philip went on to preach the message of salvation and healing through Jesus in Samaria.

We are all tempted at times to close ourselves off from people we don’t understand or with whom we disagree. But Jesus shows us that no one in the world is unworthy or excluded from his family. Today, pray for a spirit of openness and receptivity so that you, like Philip, are willing to share the love of God with everyone, no matter who they are.

“Jesus, widen my heart to witness with love to the people I disagree with.”

Psalm 66:1-7
John 6:35-40
Acts 8:1-8

WORD AMONG US