Things we know too well, situations too familiar to us, or texts we know ‘by heart’, are in danger of no longer having an impact on us. The message has been heard long ago and ‘registered’ – it is 
there, at the back of our minds but with little bearing on how we live from day to day…
This may be the case for the parable of this Sunday (15th Sunday, Year C, Lk.10:25-37): The parable of the Good Samaritan. We know it so well, we could tell it with all its colourful details. But knowing it ‘by heart’ and knowing if ‘from the heart’ is quite different!
We could say that this text presents a typical case of someone being caught in his own trap. The lawyer was trying to catch Jesus by asking what he thought was a clever question. But his cleverness turns out to bring him shame. He may then have recalled a text of Holy Scripture: “You have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth” (Pr.6:2).
Most interesting – and inspiring – in Jesus’ reply is how he turns the question asked by the lawyer into another question with a completely different focus. In other words: what is at stake is NOT: “Who is my neighbour?” but in Jesus’ words: “Who proved himself a neighbour?”
The reluctant answer of the lawyer is followed by Jesus’ injunction: The modern colloquial equivalent of WALK THE TALK!