The Good Samaritan
Vincent Van Gogh, 1890
Kröller-Müller Museum, The Netherlands
Scripture: Luke 10:25-37
But a Samaritan while traveling came upon the near-dying person and when he saw him he was moved with compassion. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, treating them with oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
Visio Divina
Ask for the grace to see and receive from the Holy. Sit silently and contemplate the image for a few minutes.
What word or phrase comes to mind? What emotion arises?
Note the shapes, colors, the lighting. Who are the figures in the painting?
Continue to sit quietly with this painting.
Consider how the Samaritan embodied compassion. His intervention involved touching, lifting, carrying, soothing, at cost to himself.
What is the cost of compassion? How will you embody your compassion?
Share with God your desire to be, or your fears about becoming, more compassionate. What grace do you need?
Carry this image in your mind through the day.
Ask and allow the Spirit to remind you of God’s embodied compassion for you.
- Book: Learning from Henri Nouwen and Vincent van Gogh: A Portrait of the Compassionate Life. By Carol A. Berry.
- Podcast: Life with God: A Renovaré Podcast · Episode 224 Carol Berry talks about how she came to know the life of Vincent van Gogh through the teachings of Henri Nouwen, and what she has learned from these two men about solidarity, compassion, and art as a way to touch people’s lives.
- Article: Van Gogh and the “Good Samaritan”: when compassion becomes solidarity. By Andrea Mannillo.