Pope at Mass: compassion is the
language of God
At the heart of Pope Francis’ reflection during morning Mass
on Tuesday is the virtue of compassion which, he says, is the language of God,
whilst often the language of man is that of indifference.
By Linda Bordoni
Pope Francis on Tuesday invited the faithful to open their
hearts to compassion. Speaking during the homily at Mass in the Casa Santa
Marta, he urged those present not to “close themselves” in indifference.
He reflected on the Gospel reading of the day which tells of
Jesus’ encounter with a widow in the city of Nain who is mourning the death of
her only son as he taken to the grave. The evangelist does not say that Jesus
had compassion, the Pope said, but that "the Lord was moved with
compassion,” as if he had been overwhelmed with the sentiment.
The ‘lens’ of the heart
The Pope elaborated further saying it was by looking through
“the lens” of compassion that Jesus sees and understands the reality of that
woman.
“Compassion allows you to see reality; compassion
is like the lens of the heart: it allows us to take in and
understand the true dimensions. In the Gospels, Jesus is often
moved by compassion. And compassion is also the language of God,” he
said.
Pope Francis noted that compassion makes its appearance in
the Bible long before the arrival of Christ: it was God who said to
Moses, “I have witnessed the affliction of my
people,” and it is thanks to the compassion of God that He sends Moses to save
the people.
“Our God is a God of compassion, and compassion -
we can say – is the weakness of God, but also His strength,” he said.
Pope Francis went on to elaborate on the fact that
compassion is not a feeling of pity, a sentiment he explained, one would feel
for example when seeing a dog die on the road. It is when compassion takes hold
he explained, "we get involved in the problems of others".
The language of God
Drawing again from the Gospel, the Pope referred to the
parable of the multiplication of the loaves. He recalled when Jesus told the
disciples to feed the crowd while they wanted to dismiss those present and send
them off to buy themselves something to eat. "The disciples were
prudent,” the Pope said, “I believe that at that moment Jesus was angry, in his
heart”, and when he heard their answer he urged them “to give them food!”
“The Lord had compassion because he saw these people
as sheep without a shepherd,” said the Pope, noting that the Gospel speaks,
on one hand, of Jesus’ gesture of compassion, and on the other of the
selfish attitude of the disciples who “seek a solution without compromise, who
do not get their hands dirty, as if to leave those people to get on with it:
“If compassion is the language of God, so often human
language is that of indifference,” he said.
We must ask ourselves, he said: “How many times
do we look away...? By doing so we close the door to compassion,” he
continued ,inviting those present “to make an examination of conscience” and
ask themselves whether they let the Holy Spirit take them along the road to
compassion.
“That it is a virtue of God,” he said.
An act of justice
The Pope concluded reflecting further on today’s Gospel
especially when the Lord said to the grieving mother: “Do not weep”.
With his caress of compassion Jesus returned the young man
to his mother, the Pope said, noting that the evangelist uses the word “to
return” which implies an act of justice.
“Compassion takes us along the path to true justice. We must
always return what rightfully belongs to someone else, and this always saves us
from selfishness, from indifference, from our own closure”.
And he prayed that the Lord may also have compassion for
each of us: “We need it.”
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