Who is the other?

"And who is my neighbor?" the scholar of the law asks our Lord Jesus in today's Gospel (Lk 10:25-37). This question always makes me think of the following passage from the writings of the French Catholic, Fr. Michel Quoist, who always claimed he wasn't a writer in spite of the many books he wrote.

"Who is the other? The other -- whomever you meet on the road of life, the man who lives next door, who works with you, who knows, as do you, the meaning of joy and sorrow, the fellow whom you can't stand, the one you never speak to because you never bother to look at him on the street, the one you never think of because you've never seen him...

"The other's name? John, Peter, Mary, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Jones. He lives in the same house with you, works in the same office, rides the same bus, sits next to you at the show. The other's name? Jesus Christ. Jesus lives in the same house with you, works in the same office, rides the same bus, sits next to you at the show...the other...!"

~from The Meaning of Success, by Fr. Michel Quoist