“Who is my neighbor?”

• Autor(a) principal: Souza, Anselmo Cordeiro de
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Torres, Tania Maria Lopes
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.34624/ilcj.v11i2.26893

One of the oldest historical mentions of religious origin – though not the only one – about humanitarian assistance and “help” in favor of a fellow is portrayed in the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan. This account is so significant that it has been displayed in paintings and sculptures in hospital pavilions, and even naming hospitals, in various western nations. Therefore, we assume that it is possible to take this parable as a starting point for reflection on paradoxes that are still present in the different identities that are mediating the health chaplain’s self in their care in the contemporary hospital context. Thus, we performed a paraphrase of the pericope where the parable is located, in a homiletic application not based on possible allegory, but on the text and contexts involved, in a kind of identity starting point aimed at the question that is the key to the initial and final questioning of the dialogue between the interpreter of the law and Jesus, namely: “who is my neighbor?”. This glimpse of the role of the chaplain in their pastoral care and ministry is rescued. Next, we sought to approach, albeit briefly, the various dimensions and repercussions of the self in being a chaplain and its formation. This was done with the help of different readings of the narrated event and other secondary contributions addressing the spiritual identity of the health chaplain.