Lenten campaign 2026
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In some languages, an approved preface for the Mass speaks of Jesus as the Good Samaritan.
The Mass prayer invites us to praise and thank the Heavenly Father, in every moment and circumstance of life, in health and in sickness, in suffering and in joy.
It then speaks of Jesus, our Redeemer, who "in his earthly life, went about doing good and helping those oppressed by evil."
This is a reference to Acts 10:38, which says of Jesus:
He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
The preface adds that even today, Jesus, like the Good Samaritan, draws near to every person who suffers in body or spirt.
In this regard, the preface alludes to how the Parable of the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10 does not give any biographical information on the man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
The man who falls victim to the robbers, who "stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead" is any of us today.
The Good Samaritan, Luke tells us, "was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them."
The preface speaks of Jesus using this oil and wine like this:
He heals their wounds with the oil of consolation
and the wine of hope.
Thus we are assured in the prayer, "Through this gift of your grace, even when we are plunged into the night of sorrow, we glimpse the light of Easter in your Son, who died and rose again."
Prayer
We ask you Jesus, the Good Samaritan, that you might show us how you see us with the Father's eyes of compassion.
Give us eyes to see everyone with that same mercy, recognizing that every person is our neighbor.
We ask you to pour upon us consolation and hope when we are passing through nights of sorrow.
And we ask you to give that consolation and hope in abundance to all those who are suffering today.
Amen.
