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Life and Death Depend on Our Neighbor by Alex Stamas »

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Posted on April 20, 2010 in

Life and Death Depend on Our Neighbor by Kaylee Efstathiu

by Michelle Hawe

Reverend Father, Honorable Judges, Fellow Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Christ is Risen!

“Our life and death are with our neighbor. If we gain our brother, we have gained God, but if we scandalize our brother, we have sinned against God.” This quote, of St. Anthony the Great can mean something different to every person. But before we discover the meaning we must first understand who our neighbor is. A neighbor can be anyone. They can be lifelong friends, family members, the person who lives across the street, a co-worker, or even someone you just met. A neighbor doesn’t have to be someone you live near or have known your whole life. The Greek word in the New Testament translated “neighbor” is “Plision,” literally the one who is close to us.  To begin with our neighbor is our mother and father, brother and sister, and all those with whom we have contact.  Our neighbor is the person God brings into our life whom we are called to love in a Christian way and by so doing become their neighbor.

The quote “life and death are with our neighbor” was said by St. Anthony the great who was one of the first desert fathers. St. Anthony’s parents died when he was 18 leaving him to care for his younger sister. At about age 20, he sold all his property and belongings and made sure his sister was taken care of, and then went into the desert alone. This all took place after he heard the verse from Matthew 19:21, where the Lord addressed the young man who had come to him: “Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be perfect go, sell what you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven, and come follow me.’” St. Anthony spent about 71 years in the desert, in either solitude or being a spiritual father to those that settled around him. 

Being a neighbor is many things; it is helping others or others that help you. The key to being a good neighbor is the golden rule, “just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.” Luke 6:31. This means if you want people to show you kindness, you have to show kindness to others. An example of this is my recent youth retreat to Tahoe where we had the privilege of helping out at the South Lake Tahoe Women’s Shelter. When we arrived we were asked to put together a swing set.  Unfortunately, we needed a power drill but didn’t bring one.  Luckily someone noticed that a neighbor’s door was open and went over to ask if we could borrow a drill. Now the neighbor didn’t have to lend us his drill; but he did. He saw what we were doing at the women’s shelter and our kindness moved him, so he let us borrow his power drill. This is a perfect example of how neighbors affect us, because that man didn’t have to lend strangers his drill but he did.

Another example is the parable of the Good Samaritan, found in the Gospel of Luke 10:25-37.  The parable is about a man who fell among thieves and was injured and left on the side of the road. Three people passed by him, a priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan, but only the Samaritan stopped to help him.  He stopped, bandaged the man’s wounds, brought him to an Inn to care for him and paid for the care that the man needed. The Samaritan was a neighbor to the injured man. In this story, being a neighbor meant loving your neighbor as yourself. The Samaritan did all he could for the injured man, treating him as if he were family and not a complete stranger.

After thinking about it, I realize now what life, death, and my neighbor mean to me.  I will meet many neighbors in my life. I will meet these people anywhere and they can be anyone.  When possible, I have to be willing to help them and at the same time be open to what they may have to teach me. If I ignore or scandalize my neighbor, I sin against God and move away from Him, but if I gain and accept my neighbor I will move closer to God.  So if I constantly work at being kind, caring and accepting of all my friends, family and everyone I come in contact with, all of my neighbors, I will continue to strengthen my relationship with GOD.