Our Neighbor: A Human Person
Our neighbor … is anyone [a human person] who is capable of knowing, serving, loving and enjoying God … [whether] he is an enemy or a friend, a catholic or a heretic, an unbeliever or a believer, a Christian or a Jew, [and] a countryman or a foreigner (OOCC, III, p. 152).
St. Vincent Pallotti, views the term “neighbor” philosophically and describes it to mean a ‘human person.’ It is the most general and realistic way of perceiving this term. The neighbor is not merely “anyone,” but is a human person who is capable of knowing, serving, loving and enjoying God. Since he can know and love God, he is capable of establishing a loving relationship with God and God with him. Having established this relationship with God, he can enjoy God’s presence and spend his life in the service of God. According to St. Vincent, these are fundamental qualities that make a person a neighbor. If these conditions are there in a person, no matter who he is otherwise, he will continue to be one’s neighbor. Thus, if a person is one’s enemy or friend, a Catholic or a heretic, a pagan or a believer, Christian or Jew, a countryman or a foreigner, he would be considered one’s neighbor if he is a human person who has the capacity to know, love, enjoy and serve God. In viewing one’s neighbor in this manner, St. Vincent gives a universal character to this concept and to the commandment of love, which asks a person to love his neighbor as he loves himself. St. Vincent wanted his followers to see every human being as their neighbor and love them without any discrimination.
How do I understand the term “neighbor”? Who are my neighbors in the context of my daily living? Do I discriminate against people depending on nationality, creed, or race? Do I give the commandment of love a universal character by accepting everyone as my neighbor?
But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Lk. 10: 29)