The Compassion of Jesus

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The Shadow of Death by William Holman Hunt (1871)

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1 Kgs 3:4-13
Mk 6:30-34

Mark tells us that Jesus was so moved with pity when he saw the crowd that he ignored his own and his Apostles’ need for food and rest.  Where did this compassion of Jesus come from and where did it lead him?

All of Jesus’ adult life up to about age thirty he lived as an ordinary carpenter.  He performed no miracles nor did he do any soul- stirring preaching.  How often during these hidden years must Jesus have longed to reach out to heal and teach and encourage! How many times did he long to restore a dying child to grieving parents? How many hungry people did he meet and in his heart desire to feed them with miraculous bread?  How many cripples and lepers did he long to make whole again?  Yet he had to hold back those urges and remain anonymous until his time had come.

During these hidden years Jesus human heart grew steadily in love and compassion for all people.  This growing in human love was probably his greatest undertaking throughout the long preparation for the initiation of his public ministry.   Jesus in his Divinity always loved humanity, but his dual nature required that he, like us, grow in human love until it reached its full maturity.  Only then did he begin his ministry of miracles and preaching.

This ministry was to arouse opposition that increased until it reached its climax on the cross.  Love for humanity led Jesus to the cross.  The compassion that caused him to forget his own need for rest in today’s Gospel also empowered him to draw all humanity to himself as he was raised up on the cross.  When he did not feel within his human heart the divine love of his Father, Jesus called out, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”    But still he held within his human heart that human love and compassion for all humanity.  And this enabled him to continue to endure the cross for our sake. God had not abandoned him but had tested the true strength of Jesus’ love for humanity even when we were at our worst.

Fr. Patrick Geinzer, C.P.
St Paul’s Monastery and Retreat Center, Pittsburgh

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Judging Others As God Does

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King David in Prayer, by Pieter de Grebber (c. 1640)

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Sir 47:2-11
Mk 6:14-29

The Book of Samuel read today offers a hearty testimony to King David and his achievements. He was a warrior who  “made sport of lions as though they were kids, and of bears, like lambs of the flock,” and then gave thanks to God for it all.

“With his every deed he offered thanks
to God Most High, in words of praise.
With his whole being he loved his Maker
and daily had his praises sung.”

A deeply religious man, David gave the people a place of worship and prayers:

“He set singers before the altar and by their voices
he made sweet melodies,
He added beauty to the feasts
and solemnized the seasons of each year.”

The Book of Samuel has just a slight reminder that David was also a sinner:

“The Lord forgave him his sins
and exalted his strength forever.”

Is this passage an attempt to whitewash David’s life? A press-agent’s account of a wealthy client? We might think so.

Instead, does it mirror how a merciful God sees things, so differently than we humans do, who tend to judge others by their sins and faults? Let’s try judging others as God does.

- Fr. Victor Hoagland, CP is the Director of Passionist Press and a member of the Passionist Community in Union City, NJ.

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The Presentation of the Lord

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Presentation of Jesus in the Temple - Fra Angelico (1440 - 1441)

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Mal 3:1-4
Heb 2:14-18
Lk 2:22-40

He Comes!

It is February.  In my imagination the month of February is colored gray.  The Christmas lights are long extinguished.  Lent approaches.  This is no time for celebration. Yet, the liturgy suddenly, as it were, comes up with this feast of Light.  Shouts of joy break into the gloom.  “Look up,” we hear, “The messenger of the Lord comes. Lift up the gates; welcome the King of Glory.  Let us go in procession to Jerusalem.”  Christ the Lord, the light of all nations and the glory of Israel is here.  The long vigil of Simeon and Anna is at an end.

This feast, low-key as our observance of it tends to be, marks the culmination of the Christmas season.  The Messiah appears in public, in the center of Israel’s worship, in the house of his Father. The fact that  the solemnity seems to erupt without preliminary in the midst of ordinary time and in the foreshadow of Lent, can serve as a promise that God’s Kingdom comes, steadily and surely, whether we perceive it or not.  It can reinforce our determination to live in hope.

- Sister Mary O’Brien, C.P. is a member of the Passionist Sisters’ community in Union City, NJ.

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