Compassion and Charity in Traditional Catholicism: Lessons from the 15th Sunday after Pentecost
Summary of Headings
- Epistle and Gospel Reflections
- An Anecdote of Compassion: Father William Doyle
- Understanding Compassion
- The Role of Prayer in Cultivating Compassion
- Gratitude, Love, and Community
- Compassion Within the Church
- Extending Compassion Beyond the Church
- Conclusion and Call to Action
Epistle and Gospel Reflections
The Epistle for the 15th Sunday after Pentecost is taken from St. Paul's letter to the Galatians, chapter 5. Brethren, if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be made desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. Brethren, and if a man be overtaken in any fault, you who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so you shall fulfill the law of Christ. For if any man think himself to be something, whereas he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let everyone prove his own worth. And so he shall have glory in himself only, and not in another. For everyone shall bear his own burden. And let him that is instructed in the word communicate to him that instructeth him in all good things. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. For he that soweth in his flesh of the flesh, he shall also reap corruption. But he that soweth in the spirit of the Spirit shall reap life everlasting. And in doing good let us not fail. For in due time we shall reap not what we have sown. And in due time we shall reap what we have sown. Therefore, whilst we have time, let us work good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of the faith.
And the Gospel? Let's take from the Gospel according to St. Luke, Chapter 7. At that time Jesus went into a city called Naim, and there went with him and his disciples a great multitude. And when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a great multitude of the city was with her. Whom when the Lord had seen, being moved with mercy toward her, he said to her, Weep not. And he came near and touched the bier, and they that carried it stood still. And he said to him, Young man, I say to thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up and began to speak, and he gave him to his mother. And there came a fear unto them all, and they glorified God, saying, A great prophet is risen up among us, and God hath visited his people.
An Anecdote of Compassion: Father William Doyle
Please be seated. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen. There's an anecdote from the life of Father William Doyle, an Irish Jesuit in the first part of the 20th century, last part of the 19th century, first part of the 20th century. That when he was in London, he was preaching a retreat in, I think it was London anyway, somewhere in England. He was returning home quite late at night after he had finished all of his duties. At the retreat house, he was walking home to his house. And along the way, he found a woman of the night, as it were. And she was on the other side of the street, obviously trying to avoid a priest walking down the street. So he stopped, walked over to her, and he said, Please don't sin. God loves you. Then he walked away. That's all he said. More than a decade later, this woman was on death row. She was part of a conspiracy to kill some people and steal their money. And she asked for, when they asked her if she wanted to minister, at first she said no. Then she repented and inquired about who that priest was at that time at that place. Well obviously, tracking him down wasn't as easy. As it could have been. She could have asked for any priest who was right there. But because he had actually gone out of his way to try to give her a message of hope, and that hope touched her at the moment right before her death. They managed to track Father Doyle down. He came from about 100 miles away. He was able to hear her confession, give her the last rites before she was executed. I tell this story because, I think it's very fitting that considering the epistle and gospel today, we consider the virtue of compassion.
Understanding Compassion
Where does compassion come from? How do we attain it? How do we practice it? Well first and foremost, the word compassion comes from Latin, two words, cum passione, to suffer with. To suffer with somebody else. In union with them. Compassion is a virtue that our Lord mentioned several times as being an expression of what he felt. And here we have him being moved by mercy. By the example of the mother, the widow, who had lost her only son. And of course, just a few months time, his own mother, also a widow, would lose her only son. So he was moved with compassion for her, and for that reason, he performed this miracle. He had compassion on the mother. He also had compassion on the crowds, when he saw them following him with nothing to eat or drink, so he multiplied the bread and fishes for them, so they were able to go home. Because he suffered with them. What he saw in them, he suffered with them. He didn't have to. Remember, he was God. He didn't have to choose to have a body like ours, which would suffer. He chose it voluntarily. He chose it because it was the best way for us to appreciate the act of redemption, which is the crucifixion and death of our Lord. But that happens through the incarnation. So he suffered with us. He took upon himself all of our infirmities, all of our weaknesses, all of our sins, out of compassion, to suffer them with us. Suffer the effects of our actions with us. So that it wasn't only us. It wasn't only ourselves carrying the consequences of what we do. But rather, he took it upon himself.
The Role of Prayer in Cultivating Compassion
So how do we achieve compassion? Well, the first step is always going to be the same. And that is a robust spiritual life. We cannot give what we do not have. If we don't know how to carry our own cross, how can we help everybody else carry theirs? If we don't know what it is we're supposed to do for others, how can we help ourselves? How can we help anybody else? How can we suffer with them if we don't know how to suffer ourselves? How can we put up with them when we're usually quite incapable of putting up with ourselves? How can we have compassion? First and foremost, it starts with prayer. Because what we have to understand is compassion is born of charity. And charity can only come from God. So therefore, God must possess us in a particular way for us to be able to have compassion on the crowd. To have compassion with each other. We are supposed to be compassionate. But first and foremost, we must learn to surrender ourselves to God. He is the one who is speaking. He is the one who is trying to help us. He is always there. Just waiting to help us. Waiting to give us grace. Waiting to support us and encourage us. Waiting to give us life itself. Because as St. Paul points out, we are supposed to live in the Spirit. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Because part of the problem is, one of the great obstacles to the practice of compassion is pride. Where does pride come from? It's a disorderedness. Nothing else. We are prideful because we do not see God. We see ourselves. When somebody cuts us off in the road, we don't see the will of God. We see some jerk who is trying to cut us off. Nothing else. Who is driving like an idiot on the road. And we get angry. We get angry because we see ourselves and not God. We have to be able to live in the spiritual world first and foremost. Which means our spiritual life needs to be a lot stronger. But more than just stronger, to start with, it needs to be regular. We need to start setting up a schedule for how to pray and when. That is the seed by which everything else will grow. Because if we have a habit of prayer, God can speak to us more easily because less of us is invested in the prayer. And therefore there is more room for God. So first and foremost, we must make a habit of it. Regularity. And then eventually, profundity. Actually try to get deeper into prayer. It is not about multiplying prayers. We don't have to say 25 rosaries throughout the day. Or have all these devotions constantly. But whatever we do decide to pray, whatever it is that we are going to pray, each and every day, we must make sure that we do it faithfully and we must make sure that every time we say it, we are entering more perfectly into the spirit of the prayer. We are trying to let God do more of the talking and less ourselves. We are trying to listen more and speak less. At first, we talk a lot in prayer because that is the best that we can do. But eventually we have to start learning to not talk quite so much. And to focus a lot more on mental prayer. And the mental discipline that we have. And the discipline that it requires. Which is quite a lot. But the more that we do so, the more perfectly and absolutely God can start to take over. He can start dedicating our different ventures during the day. We can start seeing Him in His will throughout our lives. We can start seeing Him in the work we do. In the people we run into. We can start seeing Him all around us. And see the purpose for why we are here in Him. By doing so, more and more it becomes easier to understand and appreciate the great good that God has given us. He didn't have to save us. But He chose to try. He didn't have to choose us to be recipients of His grace and to be truly His sons in grace. But He chose us for some reason. He didn't choose. He didn't have to suffer and die for us. But He chose to. He wants to save our souls. And so He works to do so. We don't deserve it. And that's fine. We don't have to. But we shouldn't waste the opportunity either. God is so good and so generous. We should be. We should respond. Grace for grace. Love for love. We should give back exactly what we have received.
Gratitude, Love, and Community
So the first step to compassion is prayer. Faith. Getting to know God better. The second one is the recognition of everything God has done for us. And the immediate response when we see all the tremendous good that He has done for us is a response of gratitude and love. We respond to His love with our own love. And therefore we want to sacrifice ourselves to Him in proportion to how He has sacrificed Himself for us. So gratitude and love are the next steps. And once we have that, then we can truly practice compassion. Then we can actually see the needs of those around us. Because we can see what God is calling us to see. The people who also need grace. But please note, St. Paul points out that the first place where our compassion should be, let us work good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of the faith. The first place we need to practice this compassion is within the house of the faith. Within the house of God. Namely, the church. Of course, our own homes. Yes. But remember, we're not supposed to be just human anymore. So our human family shouldn't be just human. It should be enough for our compassion. It must be shared with the brethren that we have in the church. Every man, woman, and child who belongs to the church is our brethren. And therefore we must practice compassion to them first and foremost. If there is a need. If somebody needs help. If somebody needs support and encouragement. And we shouldn't kid ourselves. We are very much supposed to be like them. We are like a family. And like with every family, a little too much family goes a long way. And so there's a lot of irritation. Difficulty. There's friction between members. There's difficulties. People do not like each other. Have a natural antipathy or whatever else. That's something that can't be entirely overcome, maybe. But at the very least, we can have compassion on each other. If somebody is hurt. No matter what our friendship status is with them. We should absolutely be the first ones to be extending our hand in help. If somebody is in trouble. We should be rallying around them to get them out of the trouble. If there are difficulties or sicknesses or anything else. The charity must start from within the community of the church.
Compassion Within the Church
Just as a side note. Members of this chapel. If you know somebody who is sick or in the ICU. Or needs the sacraments or anything else. One act of charity and compassion that you can do is let your pastor know. Because I hate finding out after the fact that somebody needed the sacraments and couldn't get them. So please make sure. I understand everybody is worried about how busy I am. But that is one of those things that I have to do. And I really want to do. So please take that into consideration as an act of compassion. That you can already practice. It is necessary for us to have compassion on each other. As members of the same church. And again. No matter how well we like somebody. Like a family. It doesn't matter how much you like your siblings or whoever else. You must love them. Liking and loving are very different things. It is necessary for us to appreciate what it means to suffer with somebody else. And of course first and foremost it starts here. In the chapel. In the church in general. And if I might point out. In the church now. There are probably a billion people who don't know the faith. Don't know the faith like they should. Don't know the sacraments like they should. Don't appreciate all the good that God is doing for them. Because they have never witnessed it. They have never received it. They have never had it. Or they have gotten some sort of a disfiguration of it. A billion people who are our brethren. Who don't know the love of God the way we do. If that doesn't inspire compassion for them. Then we have a lot of work to do in our spiritual life. We should be compassionate to them. Anybody who is in the darkness. That one sheep that is lost. People who don't know the way. Who have been misguided. Who have never received the grace of God. Who are just simply cultural Catholics. Who receive the sacraments as just a matter of form. Because that's what we do. Here in Spain or Mexico or wherever. These people have something that is deeply lacking in their lives. And they are our brethren. And we need to help them. If we can't do so directly. With guidance and help. Then at the very least through our prayers and sacrifices for them. Because there is a serious danger with the pride that prohibits the possibility of compassion. And that is a certain snobbery. Because we do have these gifts of God. We think of everybody else as not worthy of our time. Or we don't want to be contaminated with what they practice. Or what they believe. Or what they have. Or whatever else.
Extending Compassion Beyond the Church
This isn't the charity that Christ demonstrated while he was here on earth. Quite the contrary. That is the charity of the Pharisees. We need to have the charity of Christ. Not our charity. Not this world's charity. The charity of Christ. Which demands that we sacrifice ourselves for the good of others. That we suffer with other people. That we have compassion with them. That we extend a helping hand as best we can. In the way that we can. In the method that we can. With the resources that we have. Whatever it may be. That we have true charity for those around us. True compassion for those around us. Which is born of the life of God himself. And with the generosity and love of God. No less. Therefore. That is what we must focus on. And then while we contemplate the billion souls within the church who need so much help. Now let's think about all the souls in the world. Who don't even have that. How much darkness there is in the world. How much anger. Hatred. Frustration. Fear. People who never knew the difference between right and wrong. Good and evil. Heavenly and diabolic. Right and wrong. They don't understand the differences. They live in ignorance. They live in darkness. And by the grace of God we have the ability to illuminate so much of the world. We have the ability to do so. But from pride. From laziness. From any number of reasons and excuses that we have. We don't work hard enough at our spiritual life. And to deepen our prayer life. For the purpose of being able to truly let God be with us. To let God's light shine through our lives. And so therefore how can they see the light of God if we do not live it. We don't have to preach with words. But we do have to show the love of God in our actions. Every day. That is what we are called to do. We are called to be missionaries. Not hitting them over the head with Bibles. But at the very least. Demonstrating truly the love of God that we know and we receive each and every day. So that we can share it with them. No matter who it is. No matter what the situation.
Conclusion and Call to Action
So maybe we can consider that a little bit in our interactions in our daily lives. Just a little more patience. Just a little more generosity. A little thoughtfulness before we speak. A little less. A little less reactivity. Where we react to somebody else. And a little more self-possession. Because God is the one who possesses us. And again where does this all start? Here at the Mass. If we want to learn sacrifice and compassion and charity. And the gift of self. It all comes down to the Mass. If we want to appreciate what we have to give. We learn it from the Mass. If we want to learn how to pray. We learn from the prayer. Which is the Mass. And then we carry it out through Holy Communion. And then we take what we have learned. And we take it with us out into the world. To share with all around us. Charity is self-effusive. It is to be given. And what we have received. We must share. This compassion that our Lord shows to the widow of Naim. And this compassion that our Lord shows to the crowds and the multitudes. And this compassion that Saint Paul demands. Must enliven our very existence. It must be born of the love of God. And the compassion that he has shown to us. So that we can share it with everyone around us. And by doing so. We can help them receive the grace that we receive. And which we must help bear fruit. And once that happens. Hopefully we can exist in the salvation of so many souls. And in so many of the problems of the world can be resolved. Precisely by the love of God. And the grace that he gives because of it. And therefore we can be participants in his salvation. And therefore hopefully achieve salvation ourselves. Eternally happy with him in heaven. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.