The Parable of the Good Samaritan is a familiar one: a traveller is beaten by robbers, stripped and left for dead by the road. First a holy man and then another comes by, but both avoid the man. Finally, a Samaritan happens upon and helps the injured man, showing great compassion, reflecting the lengths to which love will go. He treats the injured man not as an enemy but as a neighbour, as one of his own. Through this parable, Jesus indicates that a person truly acts as a neighbour through love.

But who is my neighbour? Pope Francis reminds us that, before we are anything else, we are brothers and sisters sharing a common home, and we are called to become neighbours and friends. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen rising inequalities in wealth and new forms of poverty and a disregard for human worth. We have a universal responsibility to act; to accept the obligations we bear to each other, and to find fraternal love. A willingness to respond to human need wherever it is found. So I ask for your help in responding now. Please choose to help Caritas to continue its life-changing work during 2021 with our brothers and sisters in need. The best way to answer the question Who is my neighbour? is to choose to become a neighbour. Please donate to Caritas Diocese of Salford, so that we can continue to support yours and our neighbour; the most vulnerable members of our communities.