Introduction
Part I
The age of compassion is here. We, as people of the world, God’s people, are being gathered together in an accelerated movement of the Spirit which is characterized by mercy and joy, forgiveness, and repentance. This gathering is palpable in the ever increasing level of awareness that we are all one people, one humanity born of God’s creative love. It is not so unlike the feminine image we are given in the Gospel of Matthew (23:37) of the mother hen who calls her scattered chicks to gather around her, clucking at them in a low tone, sometimes tucking them under her wing, not for protection only but for the gathering together of her family. (G.Lohfink, p. 63)
The heightened sense of being one, of being “family” with the world community is undeniable. Every day, our technologically advanced media makes alarmingly visible to us the incredible sufferings of people throughout the world. It is in our personal heart-wrenching experience of deep sadness for the dispersed, broken and despairing that, at, last, we see them as brothers and sisters.
We are being graced by God with a new heart and a new spirit. The hardness of our hearts is being removed and we are being given hearts of compassion. (Ez 36:26) A new thing is happening; it is as if we are being brought home. Yet, the promise has always been here and in our home, too, always present within us. In spite of distractions and regressions, there has been a constant leaning forward to the “more”. At this moment in history, God is sending forth a surge of grace manifested as a call to compassion and mercy. Paradoxically, it is through the pain of dissolution that God’s promise is coming to fruition. (Ibid., p. 64ff) It seems it is always that way. Slowly, through history, we move forward ever more deeply into oneness with God and each other.
Pope Francis leads us to look at the story of the call of Matthew: “Jesus saw a publican, and since he looked at him with feelings of love and chose him, he said to him, ‘Follow me’.” (Pope Francis, “A Big Heart Open to God”, p16). Even though we, too, are burdened with the innate weakness of the human condition, Jesus looks at each of us with love and mercy and invites us to participate in his great work. In looking at us with eyes of love, he empowers us to look at others with that same empowering love. The call is to see the world with the eyes of Jesus, to look experience salvation and bear good fruit. (Ibid, Para. 19)
This new way of seeing things is centered on Christ. It follows then, that if we are to authentically respond to his call, we must draw near to him. We must become, in the way of Ignatius of Loyola, “contemplatives in action”. Through a faithful daily practice of praying with scripture we learn Christ’s way of seeing and healing and we become one with his spirit.
In calling us to be bearers of compassion, Pope Francis has shared with us his dream:
"I dream of a church that is a mother and shepherdess. The church’s ministers must be merciful, take responsibility for people and accompany them like the good Samaritan who washes, cleans and raised up his neighbor. . . . The ministers of the gospel must be people who can warm the hearts of the people, who walk through the dark night with them, who know how to dialogue and to descend themselves into their people’s night, into the darkness, but without getting lost." (Pope Francis, “A Big Heart”, p. 24)
He continues by saying that this can only happen if there is a contemplative attitude. The signs that one is on the right path are “profound peace, spiritual consolation, love of God and love of all things in God.” (Ibid, 30)
A life lived in compassionate service is our grateful response for the gifts of God’s extravagant love, and his continuing laboring on our behalf.
