Compassion is deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it.
Thomas Merton says that compassion is the keen awareness of the interdependence of all things.
Today I was compassionate to one of my families. In order to do it, I had to "break the law" of the department in that I allowed a family member to be present in the room that was "against the rules." When does the law need to be thrown out and let grace come in?
Was I in the right or in the wrong? According to the law, I was wrong. Yet, Jesus came and brought us compassion. He healed those who were ostracized. He spoke with those to whom no one spoke. He unlocked the door of the room and let in those who had been shut out.
The Dalai Lama says "the whole purpose of religion is to facilitate love and compassion, patience, tolerance, humility, forgiveness.
What I did was right in the eyes of God, but I paid the cost for it. Will I do it again?
In the movie Luther, he demonstrates the cost of being a disciple. He carries his cross, and even though he has doubts, he follows his conscience. My favorite quote from the movie is this one that was preached by Luther in his parish:
“people obsess over relics, pilgrimages to holy places, indulgences, and all the time there is Christ. Here in every corner, in every hour of the day. He is not found in the bones of saints. He is found in your love for one another and for each other, in the sacraments, in God’s holy words—if we have the word by faith, in love and service to one another, we need fear no man’s judgment.”
