Our Daily Bread: Jonah 1:1–2:2, 11; Luke 10:25-37

And who is my neighbor?

We live a series of contradictions. We possess countless technologies to make our world smaller, yet the gulf among peoples, nations, religions and ideologies continually widens. If we are truly to live with compassion and conviction, we must look past the small-minded questions of who our neighbor is and where our boundaries lie. They no longer exist in this global community. We can no longer act as if we do not have any obligations beyond our own front doors or city limits. We cannot live as if no one is our neighbor or our responsibility when television, radio and the Internet continually broadcast news of need and suffering. We have made our world smaller, and with it, our neighborhood and our duty greater.

*To love our neighbors as ourselves, we pray.