Compassion
“When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
Those of you who have visited Ampleforth Abbey in Yorkshire may have been struck by the bronze statue placed on the lawn to the north of the church. From a distance it is difficult to make out what exactly it is. Coming a little closer it appears to be two men in a wrestling match. A friend mentioned that he did not feel enticed to venture near it. But when you do, and read the sign in front of it, you see that it is in fact a representation of the Good Samaritan. St Luke describes how the man going down from Jerusalem fell among robbers who stripped and beat him, leaving him half dead. A priest and a Levite each saw him but passed him by on the other side. But a Samaritan saw him and had compassion. He was moved to help him, pouring oil and wine on his wounds and set him on his beast, took him to an inn and took care of him. Perhaps picturing an image of this scene in our imagination we conjure up the sight of the man half dead and the compassion shown to him by the Samaritan. But what the artist has done is to depict the great depth of the mercy of the Samaritan, the struggle he had to lift him, how he had to wrestle with him to carry him and place him on his beast. To feel compassion means that you are moved in the very depths of your inner self. Your whole personality is disturbed, and you are moved to take action in some way. The wrestle may also signify a wrestle with the self in being compassionate.
“God so loved the world that He gave His only Son …” Jesus “humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” Jesus is Divine Compassion Incarnate. The helplessness of the crowds touched the very Sacred Heart of Jesus. His Divine Compassion, which is infinite, moved Him to take action. What happens to sheep when they have no shepherd? They may end up running after one another in confusion, searching for pastures they do not know how to find, until they are overtaken by fatigue. A far greater confusion ensues when people are lost, searching for some meaning in their lives, not knowing the way of salvation, being dead in their sins. While we were yet sinners, St Paul tells us, Christ died for us. Divine Compassion is always moved towards sinners, even to the point of giving up His Life through death on a cross. It is the way God chose for His Son to bring us back to the fold. We are not told how the man responded from the care and compassion he received from the Samaritan, though we can imagine he remained extremely grateful to him for the rest of his life, to say the least. But we are responsible as to how we respond in our daily lives to the Divine Compassion we have received through the Mercy of God granted to us.
We may wonder why it is that Jesus sends his disciples out only to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel”. It seems rather unjust, or inconsistent to say the least, to command His disciples to enter “no town of the Samaritans”. True, St Luke’s Gospel does record how Jesus and the disciples did enter a village of the Samaritans and were rebuked. But it is God’s way to start from smaller beginnings. He gives the priority to the Israelites, His chosen people, His “treasured possession among all peoples”. But they could only be such provided they kept His Covenant. Having broken the Covenant, and repeatedly done so, they have become like “sheep without a shepherd”. Later, the Covenant is extended to all, beginning with the missionary work of St Paul.
Being compassionate to our neighbour is how we show our love for God. Our finest exemplar is the Blessed Virgin Mary. In her we not only see human compassion in its perfection, but also the first small beginnings of the New Covenant. Having received her mission from the Angel Gabriel, that she was to become the Mother of God, she gave her whole-hearted ‘yes’ to Him. But also in learning that her very elderly cousin is with child and in the sixth month of her pregnancy, in total selflessness goes to her to assist her in her need. She is doing more than an act of compassion. She is bringing Jesus to her in her womb. Elizabeth, inspired by the Holy Spirit, recognizes this. Being compassionate, being moved in the very depths of our inner self, our heart, touches upon that place in our souls where Jesus resides and wants to reside, as His treasured possession. The Good Samaritan shows us how to wrestle with ourselves in being neighbour to the needs of others. Mary shows us how to love God present in our neighbour and in ourselves, but without an interior ‘wrestle’, for she is the perfection of selflessness.