Word to the Wise
Saturday, February 29, 2020 - Saturday after Ash Wed.
[Isa 58:9b-14 and Luke 5:27-32]If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday; then the Lord will guide you always.....[Isaiah] "Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners." [Luke]
There is no better medicine than a compassionate friend. And when this compassion is expressed on a wide scale, wonderful things happen. Isaiah is speaking to an entire people, and we hear him over and over again challenging both leadership and followers to be compassionate - to care for the widow and orphan and the hungry, sick and homeless in their midst.
Our English word "compassion" comes from Latin which means "to suffer with" or "share suffering." We have the examples in the gospels of the Good Samaritan [Luke 10:25-37] or the stretcher-bearers who bring the paralytic up on the roof to get him down to Jesus [Luke 5:18 et seq.] to show us what compassion can mean.
Jesus reacted to carping criticism of religious leadership when they objected to his eating with sinners and tax collectors, saying that the latter were precisely the ones in need of his compassion. Pope Francis has referred to the church as a "field hospital for the sick and wounded" and faced similar criticism. Maybe a good question to ask during this Lent is: "How compassionate am I? How compassionate can I be?" and then acting on it. I know I have experienced tremendous compassion from the students I know here in the university community where I live and minister. I hope I can do the same. Asking the question is a good first step. AMEN