Commentary on the Gospel of
An Allegory
In the tradition of the allegorical interpretive approach to the gospels, the Good Samaritan is Jesus Christ. The wounded man on the side of the road is the humanity wounded by sin. The Inn stands for the Church which, as Pope Francis has said, is the field hospital meant to care for the wounded humanity. The two coins that the Samaritan deposits with the Innkeeper refer to the sacraments Christ has instituted and commanded the Church to use for the care of souls. The Good Samaritan promises to pay more when he returns: In his Second Coming, Christ will reward us for our faithfulness. In the intervening time between now and the Second Coming, our task is to care for the victims on the margins of the society as well as the common home entrusted to us by Christ; to “do the same” as the Good Samaritan Christ has done in the parable.
