Panama City, Panama, Jan 27, 2019 / 09:56 am
On the final day of World Youth Day in Panama, Pope Francis met with the guests of a home for people with AIDS, reflecting on a question Jesus was asked in the Gospels: "Who is my neighbor?"
When Jesus was asked to describe a neighbor, he did not respond with "theories, or give a fine, lofty speech," the pope said at the Good Samaritan Home in Panama City Jan. 27. "Instead he told a story – the parable of the Good Samaritan – a concrete example drawn from the real life."
He explained that a neighbor is the person who moves you to stop and "make room." A person who "wonderfully inconveniences our lives, because it reminds us and points our steps towards what is really important, and it frees us from all that is trite and superficial in the way we follow the Lord."
Pope Francis spoke at one of four centers of the Good Samaritan Home, a charity of the Church in Panama which assists poor adults and young people with AIDS. "Being with you today gives me reason for renewed hope. Thank you for giving me this," he said.