The Impact of Compassion
Mark 1:29-39
I have counseled people for over 30 years, both as a parish priest and for a number of years as an addictions counselor. When I think back on that experience of counseling, a number of vivid memories come to mind.
I remember three thirteen year old girls coming to see me after school one day to talk about their drug use. Each of them had run away for home at least once and returned. Each of them had involvement with alcohol and drugs. Each of them seem to live for parties at which those substances were available. However, under all of this, there was a desire in each of them to talk about the feelings that they were having about life, and what made them sad and what made them glad, and what made them mad. Each of them wanted someone to listen to them. Each one of them needed to be in contact with a compassionate heart.
I remember another group of young teenagers who agreed to gather together once a week for about six weeks to have discussions of their feeling about life, to practice communication skills, to do some values clarification, and even to learn some relaxation techniques. One day in a conversation with the parents of these young people, the parents asked, “When are you going to start the same kind of program for us?” They obviously had the same needs.
I remember counseling a woman who was afraid to go out of her house, even to the grocery store. What a burden it was to be immobilized by such fear.
All kinds of people flash before my eyes. People desperate in the grips of something that they couldn’t understand, and could find freedom on their own. People who were angry and didn’t know why or how to deal with it. People who were afraid. People who were lonely. People who were looking for communication on a deeper level than talking about the high price of carrots. People who were confused, people who needed to make decisions, people needing someone to listen to them, people needing someone to care for them, people needed someone to show love toward them.
They came in waves. Sometimes I felt that I couldn’t do anything for them. Sometimes I was tired, weak, and I had run out of energy.
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However, when I think of all these people, all these faces, and groups of people marching in front of me in my memory, I have some understanding how Jesus must have felt when, as recorded in today’s Gospel, he was in the house of Simon and Andrew and “The whole city was gathered around the door” He showed compassion toward them and , “cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons…” Everywhere he went, it seemed that there were people in need whom he responded to with compassion. The impact of his compassion spread.
The kind of caring and love exhibited here in the Gospel was an essential part of the Good News that Jesus came to proclaim. It was a proclamation of a the Love of a God who cares for all of us. Inherent in Jesus’ actions was the message that God cares for us, that God seeks us, that God will not leave us comfortless.
It is my belief that this kind of caring and love has a profound affect of people.
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There is such a great need for compassion in the world today. There are people who hunger to be heard, cared for, loved and supported in their time of need. Yet it seems that many people in the world today who could express that care and love have become more impersonal, uncaring, and even harsh in their treatment of those who are in need. Their actions toward those who are less fortunate are ruled by economics. We get the message that it is not economically viable to care for those who need our care and support. Governments often are bent in helping those who are already rich become richer than helping the poor get on their feet. There are those who argue that by helping the rich will eventually help the poor. Of course such a view is naive and doesn’t take into consideration the power of human greed. Those who have much will always want more and will resist any social program that will cut into their profits. The words of Amos cuts deep when he speaks harshly of those who,
“sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals –
they who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth
and push the afflicted out of the way…” (Amos 2:6-7)
Here Amos strikes at the heart of Israel’s guilt (in 8:6 as well) He criticizes not just an abuse here and an injustice there but an economic system that condones the accumulation of great wealth in the hands of a few (6:1-6) and the growth in the gap between the rich and the poor (5:11) comment on Amos in the Access Bible Oxford, N.Y. 1999
Jesus acted in a completely opposite way. He was concerned about the poor and comforted the afflicted. If the Gospel is to be spread by us in the world today, it will have to be delivered with the same love, care and compassion that was shown by Jesus in the beginning of Mark’s Gospel as he set out to proclaim the new reality to the world. The impact of the Gospel is directly related to the spread of compassion in our communities, our nation and the world.
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This is the ministry of the whole people of God. It is difficult. Sometimes we feel that we will lose ourselves in our care and concern for all people. However , I believe what we lose is our self-centered ego and what we gain is our true selves as partners with the Spirit of God within us. There is and interesting prayer by Michel Quoist about is involvement and difficulties faced in reaching out to others.
Lord, why did you tell me to love all men, my brothers? (all people)
I have tried, but I come back to you, frightened.Lord, I was so peaceful at home, I was so comfortably settled.
It was well-furnished, and I felt cozy.
I was alone, I was at peace,
Sheltered from the wind and the rain, kept clean.
I would have stayed unsullied in my ivory tower.But, Lord, you have discovered a breach in my defences.
You have forced me to open my door.
Like a squall of rain in the face, the cry of men has awakened me;
Like a gale of wind a friendship has shaken me,
Stealing in like a shaft of light, your grace has disturbed me.
Rashly enough, I left my door ajar. Now, Lord, I am lost!
Outside, men were lying in wait for me.
I did not know they were so near;
in this house, in this street, in this office;
my neighbours my colleague, my friend.
As soon as I started to open the door I saw them,
with outstretched hands, anxious eyes, longing hearts,
like beggars on church steps.The first came in, Lord. There was, after all, a bit of space in my heart.
I welcomed them. I would have cared for them and fondled them,
my very own little lambs, my little flock.
You would have been pleased, Lord; I would have served
and honoured you in a proper, respectable way.
Until then, it was sensible….
But the next ones, Lord, the other men—I had not seen them;
they were hidden behind the first ones.
There were more of them. They were wretched;
they overpowered me without warning.
We had to crowd in, I had to find room for them.Now they have come from all over in successive waves, pushing
one another, jostling one another.
They have come from all over town, from all parts of the country,
of the world; numberless, inexhaustible.
They don t come alone any longer but in groups, bound one to another.
They come bending under heavy loads;
loads of injustice, of resentment and hate, of suffering and sin….
They drag the world behind them, with everything rusted,
twisted, badly adjusted.Lord, they hurt me! They are in the way, they are all over.
They are too hungry; they are consuming me!
I can t do anything any more; as they come in,
they push the door, and the door opens wider….Ah, Lord! My door is wide open!
I can t stand it any more! It s too much! It s no kind of a life!
What about my job?
My family?
My peace?
My liberty?
And me?Ah, Lord! I have lost everything;
I don t belong to myself any longer;
There s no more room for me at home.*
Don t worry, God says, you have gained all,
While men came in to you,
I, your Father,
I, your God,
Slipped in among them.Michel Quoist Prayers, Sheed and Ward, New York 1963
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