52. Perchance He therefore passes him not
by, because He sees in him some signs of life, so that there is hope
that he may recover. Does it not seem to you that he who has
fallen is half alive if faith sustains any breath of life? For he
is dead who wholly casts God out of his heart. He, then, who does
not wholly cast Him out, but under pressure of torments has denied Him
for a time, is half dead. Or if he be dead, why do you bid him
repent, seeing he cannot now be healed? If he be half dead, pour
in oil and wine, not wine without oil, that may be the comfort and the
smart. Place him upon thy beast, give him over to the host, lay
out two pence for his cure, be to him a neighbour. But you cannot
be a neighbour unless you have compassion on him; for no one can be
called a neighbour unless he have healed, not killed, another.
But if you wish to be called a neighbour, Christ says to you:
“Go and do likewise.” S. Luke x. 37.