COMPASSION IS THE WAY
Listening the Spirit
Praise and glory to you, God and Father, for our Founder St. Guido M. Conforti, who, fascinated by your crucified Son, and inspired by the Holy Spirit, founded the Xaverian Family to spread the Gospel unto the ends of the earth, so that our Lord Jesus Christ may be known and loved by all. We thank you for the gift of the missionary vocation. Forgive our betrayals to the charism received, and strengthen in us the desire and zeal to live the mission ad gentes, with a passionate family spirit. Give us a spirit of living Faith to bear witness with love, in the world, to the Hope that gives meaning and life. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen!
Listening the Word: Matthew 9:36—10:8
At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.”
Then he summoned his twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits
to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.
The names of the twelve apostles are these:
first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew;
James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John;
Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector;
James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus;
Simon from Cana, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.
Jesus sent out these twelve after instructing them thus,
“Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town.
Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”
Reflection
“At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.” MATTHEW 9, 36
Many times happens to me to sing the famous song “God will make a way where there seems to be no way”, whose lyrics are rooted in Isaiah 43:19: "I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert." I found this song easy for the kids welcomed in our Center: there is a good repetition that helps in memorizing the immediate refrain. Moreover, this song leaves us with the fundamental message: God has a plan that makes its way through all the problems, overcoming all obstacles.
He has a way, He is the way (cfr Gv 14,6 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life”).
Today we acknowledge: COMPASSION IS THE WAY. Because GOD is COMPASSION. Compassion is HIS NAME: we can remember Exodus 34, 6: “And He passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate (rachum) and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness”.
COMPASSION IS THE SOURCE OF MISSION.
We look at the others with compassion and feel the call to love.
We take care of the lost, the poor and the oppressed because GOD COMPASSION doesn’t let us sleep peacefully if we do not do something.
We seek justice and promote peace because we feel the pain of others as if it were our own. We feel the problems and the wounds of the others as if they were our own. COMPASSION.
GOD CALLS US TO PARTICIPATE OF HIS DEEP COMPASSION.
We can even say that the call of the Twelve disciples is a clear matter of compassion: not only are they called to share the same actions as Jesus in carrying out compassion for others (“Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons”), but they are also called because God has compassion on them. The original and first compassion is not the one performed by the Twelve – and later on by the missionaries of the Gospel- trying to imitate the same actions as Jesus. The original and first compassion is the event that JESUS CALLS!
God looks at our weakness with HIS COMPASSION, as we can find in Today’s second reading: “while we were still sinners Christ died for us… while we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son” (ROMANS 5). Our missionary vocation is expression of GOD COMPASSION because it is generated by the compassion of God.
The beauty of missionary life is born from God's compassion.
Let u feel the presence of God- Compassion deeply and look at others and this world of ours in the same way. Let us understand better our vocation as a call due to the COMPASSION of GOD upon us, acknowledging that only been involved in His abundant LOVE we can still find a meaningful life.
Let us may imbue our missionary life with Divine compassion. Amen.
Reflection Questions
1. How have I personally experienced God’s compassion in my weaknesses, failures, or moments of struggle, and how does that experience inspire me to respond to God’s call in my life?
2. In what concrete ways am I being invited to share God’s compassion with those who are “troubled and abandoned” in my community, especially the poor, the suffering, and those who feel forgotten?
