Editor, Manteca Bulletin,

Mr. Fitzpatrick justified his position that the city persecuted the homeless by calling up Christ’s most important message as being to love your neighbor as yourself. I believe he is in error concerning his application to our city leaders. There are two instances where this message is stated in the Gospels that I believe will add some clarification to the position taken by Mr. Fitzpatrick.

The first is found in Mark 12:28-34 where a scribe asks Jesus which commandment is the most important of them all and Jesus answers ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your hear and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said to him, “you are right, Teacher.”

The second instance is in Luke 10:25-29 where a lawyer is testing Jesus by asking “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus asks him basically what do you think. The lawyer responds by quoting the two greatest commandments. Jesus says you are right do this and you will live. But the lawyer desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus gives him the parable of the Good Samaritan to which he answers the neighbor was the one who showed mercy to the man beaten by robbers.

Jesus does not tell city officials to be a neighbor. He is teaching individual personal responsibility to a scribe and a lawyer for mercy to be shown to another individual. It is not the city officials that are responsible for the homeless. It is for individuals to show mercy.

Theophelous Pope

Manteca