FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK
Dear Parishioners,
I’d like to say a few words today about compassion. Compassion comes from a Latin word that means to feel with or to suffer with. And compassion might not seem to be that significant or important an activity. After all we can feel with someone but how is that a good thing? How does that help the person or ourselves? It is easy to come to a quick summation of compassion as a kind of sloppy sentimentality towards the weak.
But if we were to assume that dismissive attitude towards compassion, we would find ourselves in disagreement with some of the greatest minds of western civilization. Dietrich Von Bonhoeffer, who marshaled opposition against the Nazi’s during the Second World War said, “We need to learn to regard people less in light of what they do or fail to do and more in light of what they suffer.” And Arthur Schopenhauer the great German Philosopher has said, “Compassion is the foundation of all morality.” The foundation of all morality—that is strong stuff for feeling with another. So how can we explain this exalted estimation of compassion on behalf of so many people who analyze human nature?
I think the answer can be found in today’s gospel. Jesus gets out of the boat and sees a vast crowd and “he has compassion on them because they are like sheep without a shepherd.” In his full humanity Jesus senses, the lack of insight, the fear, the confusion of so many in the crowd. He feels those things with them. But that compassion leads Jesus to act. Having felt with the other, now Jesus acts to teach them, to give them guidance and direction, to lead them out of their confusion. This is the real importance of compassion – it leads to action. When we feel with another, we are led to service. And compassion is important even when it is not yet clear to us how we can help. Because by feeling with the other person we open ourselves to the possibility of helping, we open ourselves to wait and to expect whatever opportunity is offered to us to help someone else in need. And those opportunities are hard to predict.
An elderly man was lying in the intensive care ward of a hospital close to death. And in his fear and delirium he kept calling out for his son. The overworked nurse was frustrated because she had called the man’s son many times and he had not yet arrived. Finally, a somewhat disheveled and confused young man stumbled into the waiting room and the nurse went out immediately. “Follow me,” she said. She led him to the bedside of the elderly man. She bent over and whispered into the man’s ear, “Your son is here.” The old man opened his eyes and could see a shadowy form by the side of the bed. He smiled and extended his hand. The young man grasped it and held it tight. The nurse brought a chair over to the bedside and the young man sat and remained with the elderly man all night long, giving him comfort and hope. As morning dawned the old man died. The young man put his lifeless hand back down onto the bed and stood up to inform the nurse. When she heard the news, she began to offer her sympathies to the young man. But he stopped her. “It is not necessary to offer sympathy to me,” he said, “I don’t know who that man was.” “What!” said the nurse, “I thought he was your father.” “No,” said the young man, “I came into the waiting room, and you said to follow you. So, I did.” “Why didn’t you say something when I brought you to the bedside?” the nurse said. “Well, when I came to the bedside, I saw that the man really needed a son, and his son was not there. And when it became clear to me that he could not tell whether I was his son or not, then I knew he needed me.”
A strange and beautiful story but a story that could not have happened had not that young man felt compassion for the other man. Who is it in your life who is in need? Who is it in your life that is suffering? Will you allow yourself to feel compassion? Don’t hold back from feeling compassion because you are not sure how you can help. Feel first and action will follow. And as you wait for a way or an opportunity to help, know that in your very compassion you are already supporting the other person. Because whenever we understand or share in someone else’s pain we say to that person I value you, you have a dignity and a worth which your suffering cannot erase.
Compassion then is not a marginal or incidental feeling. It is the first step towards action, and it is the affirmation of another’s dignity. It reflects the mercy of God.
Peace,
Fr. Monteleone
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