Relentless Compassion

Breaking Down the Barriers

Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong? Like you were on the outside looking in—isolated, misunderstood, or simply invisible? Maybe you’ve been passed by, dismissed, or judged when all you needed was a little compassion.

Perhaps you’ve heard the term “Good Samaritan”. It is often thrown around as a synonym for kindness, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a parable from Jesus that has shaped cultures, inspired movements, and even has become a legal term. But how often do we pause and truly listen to what it’s saying?

How often do we let it challenge us to rethink our own experiences, the way we see the world and the way we respond to the pain of others?

Maybe you’ve heard it before. Maybe you haven’t. Lets take a fresh look. Not just at what happened, but why it matters. Because hidden in this parable is a radical call to something more powerful than mere kindness. It’s a call to relentless compassion.

It starts with a question meant to put limits on love.

Who is my neighbor?

Let’s set the scene.

Jesus tells this parable in response to a question from an expert in the law: “Who is my neighbor?” This is the critical question that begins the discussion, one we can’t afford to ignore. The man wasn’t simply seeking theological knowledge; he was trying to justify himself. To draw lines and build walls around his responsibility to others.

His compassion was limited, calculated. It was a kind of compassion measured out by rules and boundaries. “Who do I have to care for? Where does my responsibility end?” This was a plea for limits.

Who is my neighbor?

It’s the question meant to restrict compassion, to define its borders and make it manageable. As we read this parable, we need to keep that question at the forefront of our minds. Because it’s not just a question for the man who asked—it’s a question for us.

In the parable, a man is traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, a notoriously dangerous road. Robbers attack him, strip him of his clothes, beat him, and leave him bleeding and dying. As he lies there, suffering and exposed, a priest and then a Levite pass by. They notice him, but they move to the other side of the road. Perhaps they were afraid, too busy, or worried about ritual cleanliness. Maybe they justified their lack of action with logical excuses. Whatever the reason, they noticed and chose not to help.

The truth is, they saw the man, not as a person but as an obstacle—something in the way of where they were going. His suffering was an inconvenience, a distraction from their own priorities. And isn’t that how we often respond when confronted with someone’s pain? As if their wounds are a roadblock rather than a call to compassion.

But then comes the Samaritan. The outcast. The one everyone expects to be the villain of the story. He’s the one who sees that man and stops. He’s the one who binds the wounds, lifts the man onto his own animal, and carries him to safety. He even goes a step further—he makes arrangements for continued care, promising to return and pay whatever additional costs are incurred.

Because of his own experience as an outsider, the Samaritan didn’t see the man as a problem or an obstacle. He saw a person who needed help. His own pain had equipped him to respond to someone else’s.

His experiences and empathy weren’t just a feeling—they were a bridge that connected him to the man bleeding and dying at the side of the road.

The Samaritan’s actions weren’t limited by rules or defined boundaries. What he showed was relentless compassion. A compassion that didn’t calculate how much was enough. A compassion that kept going even when it was messy, uncomfortable, or costly.

Empathy, Courage, and Relentless Compassion

What makes the Good Samaritan’s actions so powerful? Three things: empathy, courage, and relentless compassion.

Empathy

Empathy is born from experience. The Samaritan’s status as an outsider may have given him a unique ability to understand suffering. When he saw the injured man, he didn’t just see a problem to avoid. He saw a person. Empathy isn’t about pity. It’s about connection.

But empathy alone isn’t enough. Feeling someone’s pain doesn’t change anything unless we act. It requires us to step into someone else’s suffering, which is uncomfortable, inconvenient, and even possibly painful.

“I thought not fitting in was something I had to fix. Now I see it as my superpower.” – Maxime Lagacé

The Samaritan’s ability to empathize was his superpower. It was his own experience of rejection and being labeled an outsider that allowed him to recognize pain and respond with compassion. What others might have seen as a weakness, he turned into strength.

Courage

The Samaritan didn’t just feel bad for the injured man—he took a risk. Stopping on a dangerous road was risky. Helping a stranger who might reject him was risky. Even allowing himself to care was risky. But courage often requires moving toward pain rather than away from it.

This courage also calls us to see the needs of others clearly, not through a haze of fear or judgment.

Relentless Compassion

The Good Samaritan’s compassion went beyond a moment of kindness. It was relentless. He didn’t stop once the immediate crisis was over. He committed to coming back, to investing his own resources, and to seeing through the man’s healing.

Relentless compassion refuses to look away. It pushes past boundaries and rejects convenient excuses. Unlike the man who asked Jesus for the limits of his compassion, the Samaritan showed us what it looks like when compassion has no boundaries.

Living Out Relentless Compassion

So, what does this mean for us?

It’s easy to be moved by the story and then keep walking. But what if we truly lived like the Samaritan? What if we dared to see the hurting and marginalized, to step into their pain with courage and commitment?

Empathy means recognizing someone’s humanity and responding to it. It means breaking through the barriers of judgment, inconvenience, or fear. It’s not about being the hero—it’s about being present.

Relentless Compassion Is Action

The Good Samaritan teaches us that true empathy is more than just a feeling—it’s relentless compassion. It’s the refusal to let inconvenience or discomfort stop us from caring. And not just once, but with a commitment to ongoing care.

Maybe you’re feeling like an outsider yourself. Maybe you’re the one in need of compassion. The beauty of this story is that it speaks to all of us. Because at some point, we’re all the one lying by the side of the road.

What matters is that we don’t stay there. And when we find the strength to stand, we’re called to help others rise too.

Let’s take that step together.