Scripture says that God is “the Father of compassion.” Since Jesus is the Son of God, it is only natural the He should embody compassion, in all its fullness, for us. The world without compassion would be a cruel and inhuman world indeed. So much so that neuroscientists maintain that human nature is wired for compassion. It is a necessary, survival mechanism of the human species.

Not everyone, of course, practices compassion. Some are afraid to show compassion because they don’t want to be taken advantage of or because they might be seen as weak or an easy touch. Compassion, however, is not for the weak. It is for the strong. Others, who view the world in terms of winners and losers, refuse to show compassion to their fellow humans in need. This is a very sad state of affairs. Winning, in itself, is fine provided you win the right way. But what is wining if you win without integrity of spirit, if you win without compassion? Could that kind of selfish winning really be called winning? Not only is it a bad way to behave, it is also a hypocritical way of behaving. Everybody, whether they consider themselves winners or losers, need to experience compassion at different stages of their lives; when they are young, when they are old, when they are sick or helpless.

There’s a story about a little boy who was late getting home from school. His mother was upset and asked him for an explanation. He explained he ran into a crying girl because the wheel came off her bike, and he tried to help her. His mother said: “you couldn’t fix the wheel of your own bike when it came off, so how could you help this girl.” The boy replied: “I wasn’t able to fix her wheel, but, since I had the problem before, I was able to help her cry.” The boy acted out of the divine impulse of compassion.

Jesus wept. He wept when He heard that His close friend, Lazarus, died because He was a man of compassion. Even though Jesus was later to raise Lazarus from the dead, His first reaction was one of deep compassion for His friend. All through the gospels, Jesus reached out, compassionately, to the needy. He healed the blind, the lame, the deaf, and the sick. He fed the hungry. When His chief disciple, Peter, denied Him three times through human weakness, He did not berate him, but showered him with compassion. When another disciple, Thomas, lost faith in Him after the crucifixion, He did not scold Him, but showed Thomas His wounds, and restored him to his former faith.

Compassion is so important that Jesus makes it the test whereby we may be judged worthy to enter into His kingdom. He offers a parable in Matthew 25 { the parable of the last judgment } about the requirements for entry into His kingdom. On the last day, the parable explains, the Lord will welcome those who exercised compassion with these words: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me to drink, I was in prison and you visited me, I was sick and you comforted me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was homeless and you gave me shelter.” The Lord also answers those who make excuses for not exercising compassion for their fellow man, and are barred from entry into His kingdom, by saying: “whatsoever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto Me.” Compassion is godly. Whenever we show compassion to another, we encounter Christ.

If you want to be happy, be a compassionate person.
If you want to make others happy, show them compassion, and your world will be a better place.

Fr. Hugh Duffy