"May your compassion quickly come to us."

2 Psalm 79:8

I am the youngest of eight boys and one of my older brothers relayed this story to me. (I forget which brother told me. I actually forget many things. I do not know if I should be worried that I forget more than just a few things. On one hand, I am pretty young at 43 years old. I should not be forgetting. On the other hand, I do have a bit on my plate. The life of a priest- lots of people, phone calls, emails, details, needs and stress etc. can fill your daze(pun intended), drowning out all that you are supposed to remember. And then I remember (see, I do remember some things!) that my dad has Alzheimer’s and wonder if I am experiencing early onset of that unfriendly disease. OK, enough of this digression.) Back to the story my brother told me.

I was young, about 3 or 4 years old, and was pretty sick with some kind of stomach ailment. My mother, God bless your enormous soul, came to my side. Sitting next to me on my bed, as usual she was pouring out all her tender love upon me. I really could not talk too much because I was crying too hard. And there my brother saw my mother holding me and crying with me. It is as if she was united with me in my suffering.

That is the meaning of compassion- to suffer with another. That is who God is for us. He sends us his Son Jesus to suffer with us and bring us healing. Imagine how far Jesus had to come, and I am not referring to physical distance, in order to suffer for us. Forsaking heaven, he took on all the suffering that sin is. I do not know about you but if I was living in the perfect Joy of heaven where there is no pain, suffering and dying and I was offered the opportunity to take on all the suffering of the world for all time, I do not think I would be first in line to do so. But Jesus comes to us and is fully united with us in all the suffering we must go through. The image of my mom sitting on my bedside suffering along with me points to our Jesus who is joined to us in our suffering.

In his love for us, think of what Jesus had to deny and what he had to take on in order to suffer with us. His whole mission was to bring God’s saving grace to all who were suffering from the effects of sin.

And that was everyone. And it is everyone. All people suffer. And how much of our own pursuits are we willing to deny so that we can more fully unite with other people in their suffering and try to bring them God’s saving grace? Is that the mission of our lives? Should not that be the mission of a Christian? All people are suffering. Jesus came to be with them through you and me. Is it our priority to let that happen?

God’s will!
+Fr. John