Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter

In today’s Gospel Jesus is compassionately preparing his Disciples for the day when he will no longer be with them:  "Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone.   But I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world."

Jesus assures them that they will find peace because of the relationship they have had with him.  He reminds them that the world is not easy but his compassionate words offer them great hope. 

Compassion is an incredible, human action that God has given to us which is unlike sympathy, pity or “feeling sorry” for someone.  Compassion comes from the heart.  When we are touched by another’s compassion, we often see the face of God. 

The word compassion in both Hebrew and Greek means a deep, internal movement or response similar to giving birth.  Those who have given birth have experienced the powerful force of labor and delivery.   Compassion is also a powerful force and a movement from within which extends toward the pain of another person.  If we feel authentic compassion for another we cannot stop ourselves from moving toward them to alleviate their pain.

Father James Keenan in the book Commandments of Compassion writes about compassion and mercy and describes them as acts "…of God saving us and we are called to imitate God in God’s own act of rescue.  By rescuing others we participate in God’s life." 1   When we rescue or are rescued by others, we know that we have encountered God.

In my own life, I have been touched by the care and compassion of others over and over again.  In my ministry and through my personal relationships, I have been moved with compassion when walking with people through loss and/or pain.   Over and over I have seen the face of God.