Go and Do Likewise: Growing in Knowledge, Compassion and Service
Have you ever stopped to ask yourself what it would take for you to actually be a Good Samaritan, not just admire the story from a safe distance?
That was the question sitting at the heart of the Good Samaritan Deanery Workshop, held on Saturday, 5th September, at St Charles Lwanga Catholic Parish Ntinda. Members of the Good Samaritan and Prisons Ministry from across Nagguru Deanery gathered here under the theme “Go and Do Likewise: Growing in Knowledge, Compassion and Service,” and the day was facilitated by Rev. Fr. Dr. Dan Oryema.
He began by taking us back to where the story itself begins, the Samaritans, and why they were so despised by the pure-blooded Jews of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, where Jesus himself came from. Some of the sentiment ran as deep as, “I would rather share my plate with a dog than share it with a Samaritan.” It’s only against that backdrop, he reminded us, that we can really appreciate how extraordinary the Samaritan’s actions in the parable actually were. He wasn’t just helping a stranger. He was crossing a line that his whole world had told him not to cross.
From there, Fr. Oryema turned the mirror on us. He walked us through the many quiet ways we can fail to act like a Samaritan without ever noticing:
- Refusing to help someone because they’re a drunkard or a drug addict.
- Letting tribe or religion decide who deserves our help.
- Manipulating help so it only reaches people we already know.
- Finding excuses not to help certain people, “they could be thieves,” or “it might be insecure.”
- Being too busy to stop and listen.
- Expecting some reward, recognition, praise, or financial gain in return.
- Using the name of the poor to mobilize resources that never actually reach them.
He challenged us to be honest about whether any of that shows up in our own ministry, and to sit with harder questions too: how prepared are we, really, to spend our time, our resources, and our energy on people we don’t even know? How willing are we to be selfless, without expecting anything back?
The workshop drew a strong turnout, 92 Good Samaritan members in total, from Our Lady of Africa, Mbuya; St. James, Bbiina; St. Mbagga Tuzinde, Kiwatule; Our Lady and St. Jude, Naggulu; and our own parish here in Ntinda. The Archdiocese was represented by the Good Samaritans and Prisons Chair, Mrs. Annette Katende, who travelled in with the Vice Chair and the Good Samaritan Deanery Chairs for Nabbingo and Gayaza.
A Word From Our Deanery Coordinator
The day also gave our Deanery Coordinator, who chairs the Good Samaritan and Prisons Ministry here at St Charles Lwanga Catholic Parish Ntinda, an opportunity to address the gathering. She opened by bringing greetings from the Dean, Rev. Fr. Joseph Sebayiga, and spoke with real humility about what it has meant to take up this role. She was clear that she doesn’t see it as a position of leadership so much as a call to service, unity, and deeper commitment to the work God has entrusted to the Deanery.
She took us back to when she first assumed office, and how one of her earliest steps was to bring together the heads of all the parishes in the Deanery, so that everyone could plan the way forward together rather than alone. Out of that meeting came the Executive Committee, but she was quick to stress something important: the responsibility of the Deanery does not belong only to the people whose names were elected. Every single one of us, she said, is part of that Executive Committee. Leadership, in her words, is about everyone doing the work, contributing time, talent, ideas, and heart to one shared mission.
She also spoke about a commitment the parishes have made to visit one another, not to inspect or compare, but to strengthen relationships, encourage each other, and learn from the good work already happening across the Deanery. No parish, she said, should ever feel like it’s standing alone.
That commitment, she explained, has taken on new weight recently, because the Archdiocese has now entrusted Deanery Heads with carrying out assessment visits in every parish. She was careful to frame what these visits are really for. They aren’t about finding fault. They’re about listening, understanding, encouraging, and helping each parish recognise both its strengths and its challenges honestly, so that real growth can follow. As she put it, if one parish succeeds, the whole Deanery succeeds, and if one parish struggles, the whole Deanery should be ready to stand with it.
She thanked every member present for their time, sacrifice, and cooperation, acknowledging that many serve despite carrying other responsibilities, simply because they believe in what the Good Samaritan and Prisons Ministry stands for. Then she made a direct appeal: recruit more members. There are people all around us, she said, with generous hearts and a real willingness to serve, who may just be waiting for someone to invite them in and show them the difference they could make. We cannot reach everyone, she remindedus, if our numbers stay small.
She closed by returning to the heart of it all: that being a Good Samaritan isn’t just a name we carry, it’s something we’re called to live out in action, through compassion, service, and genuine concern for people in need. She was honest that the road ahead won’t always be easy, that there will be disagreements and discouraging moments, but she expressed real confidence that unity, open communication, and keeping God at the centre of the work will carry the Deanery through.
Fittingly, the gathering fell on the feast of St. Teresa of Calcutta, whose life was itself a quiet argument that greatness isn’t found in grand gestures, but in seeing the person in front of you and choosing to love them in their need.
That, in the end, is the invitation the whole day left us with: to go, and do likewise.