"A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho."
The man literally went down from Jerusalem, at 2,500 feet above sea level, to Jericho, in the valley of the Jordan. Jerusalem means "the city of peace," Jericho was the chief seat of idolatrous worship. Going down from Jerusalem to Jericho symbolizes the Fall of man, from a state of perfection to the state of fallen man after original sin.
"He fell among robbers who also stripped him and, having wounded him, went away leaving him half dead."
That is, he fell into the power of the devil and his demons. These robbers were demons of hell who succeeded in seducing him to fall away from God. Before, he had been clothed and adorned in ornaments of virtue; now he was stripped of his garment of innocence and lost the state of grace. He was also wounded in his natural faculties, weakening his nature and giving him an inclination to evil. By sin the man was left half dead on the journey of this life. In this sad condition, he cannot help himself or regain his former state without assistance. Man is incapable of reaching eternal life by himself, powerless to regain his health without the help of God.
"And it chanced that a certain priest went down the same way; and seeing him, passed by. In like manner also a Levite, when he was near the place and saw him, passed by."
The priest was a Jewish priest. The Levite belonged to an order of clergy inferior to the priests whose duty it was to assist the priests in offering sacrifices which the old law prescribed. Here we have presented the Jewish priesthood and its Levitical rites and ceremonies. Neither of them had any power to restore the fallen man.
"But a certain Samaritan being on his journey came near him; and seeing him, was moved with compassion."
This Samaritan represents Our Lord. According to St. Jerome, the word Samaritan means guardian. Our Lord is certainly the guardian of our souls -- he holds the remedies for giving health back to our souls. What was it He saw? What moved Him to compassion? He saw the pitiful state into which sin had plunged the human race. This excessive misery moved Him to compassion. He saw him stripped of his supernatural gifts, without any means on his part to recover them. He saw man wounded, plunged into error.
"And going up to him, bound up his wounds, pouring oil and wine."
Jesus Christ binds up these wounds when He binds the intellect to submit to faith and to believe the truth which He teaches. Oil and wine are mentioned here as remedies for the wound inflicted on the fallen man. The wine represents the Holy Eucharist. By the Blood of Jesus, our Savior, the wounds of our soul can close up and heal. When Christ sent forth his Apostles on their missions in Scripture, it says: "And going forth they preached that men should do penance; and they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them." (Mk 7:12-13) One particular use of holy oil is in the sacrament of Extreme Unction when it is given to persons in danger of death by sickness. Wine and oil are poured into his wounds for the health and salvation of his soul.
"Setting him on his own beast, he brought him to an inn, and took care of him."
Once he had addressed the most urgent need, the Samaritan placed the wounded man on his own mount and brought him to the inn. "His own beast" is understood to be the Son of God made man, understood in his human nature. Jesus is indeed the necessary means for reaching God; God became man so that man might reach God. On this mount of Our Lord, we reach the inn, that is, the Catholic Church. An inn is a place of shelter and accommodation for travelers. We are all travelers on this earth, and Jesus Christ, being moved with compassion, has provided the inn -- the life-giving Church where man can find all the resources he needs to return to health.
"The next day he took out two pence and gave them to the host."
As the inn is a figure of the true Church of Jesus Christ so the host of the inn represents the supreme visible head of the Church, namely, St. Peter, and his lawful successors, the popes. Our Lord charged Peter with the care of His whole flock: "Feed My lambs" and again, "Feed my sheep. "Here he entrusts to Peter not only the lambs, but even the sheep -- the whole Church -- not only to feed, but to be the shepherd of His flock. Behold him who in our parable is the host of the inn!
What did He give the host? These two pence are the power of binding and loosing which Jesus Christ gave to St. Peter and to the other Apostles: “Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.” Now, if the Good Samaritan bound up the wounds of fallen man, it is no wonder that He gives this power of binding and loosing to the host of the house.
From all this, it is clear and evident that our Divine Redeemer entrusted the care and restoration of fallen man to His holy Church on earth. Only in the true Church, the inn of the Good Samaritan, can be found proper refreshment and remedies for the evils which sin has brought on the human race.
All those who have sinned are poor travelers who fell among robbers and were stripped supernatural gifts, wounded and left half-dead. They must come to the inn if they wish to save their souls but must also submit to the treatment and direction which they receive there from the host. The power of the two pence - of binding and loosing, of forgiving and retaining sins as exercised in the sacrament of confession - must be resorted to, until the patient is able to go to his heavenly home, spiritually sound and healthy, for "nothing defiled can enter."
(Apoc 21:27)
I love this explanation of the parable