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219. Deep Compassion Living in the footsteps of the other person... Saint Francis of Assisi excelled in that, as did Bl. Mother Theresa of Calcutta, and Pope John Paul II, and many other saints and blessed people who have gone before us. In order to understand the pain of another human being, one has to be able to feel that same pain, that same anguish. A parent who loses a child, can only be truly comforted by another person who has had the same experience. A family who lost everything they had in a catastrophic storm, takes great solace in talking to others who had the same experiences in life. And, a person who is lost in sin, generally can only be assisted by someone who has been in the same situation at one time or another in life. Rarely are there people who can be of help who have never experienced such afflictions or disasters. Soldiers returning from battle, trying to readjust to the ways of "back home," will have a tough time coming to grips with what was on the battlefield, and what is here, unless they have someone to talk to, another soldier, who has walked that walk. A person who spent 30 years in prison, and is released, will have a very tough time. Such a person is really not employable because he has a record. And, he/she isn't supposed to associate with previous inmates. So they cannot find anyone with a similar experience who did make the re-adjustment. A person who has Cancer, needs to talk to others who have Cancer - in order to gain insight and compassion. That's why there is group therapy available for a myriad of conditions. This group therapy does not contain or heal the disease, but it brings the patient a step closer to realizing he/she is not alone in the world. There are others who suffer also, and sharing is very important to keep inner calmness and a measure of hope. In Holy Scripture, in 2 Cor. 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and God of all encouragement, who encourages us in our every affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God." God, the Father, is the Father of Compassion and of all encouragement. He does understand what all of us are going through. Seek help from others who have walked your walk, but always, always pray to the Father for His help and consolation. Keep praying, keep talking to God, because deep prayer coupled with a healthy hope of a healing often makes cures possible.
We're all bearers of the Cross. We have all inherited Original Sin and so we're all afflicted in one way or another. For some of us, the state of our health suffers, and yet for others, this is not the case at all. We will never know why one person gets cancer, and the other was never sick a day in his or her life. But we all have a cross in life, and those who are Christians know that the pain of our suffering, our sin and propensity to do bad things was mitigated by Jesus Christ who died on the Cross to redeem us and make it possible for us to be with Him in Heaven for all time to come. This is not a "one-shot deal." We have to give it a lot of effort to repent and sin no more. When we try our very best to bear our cross bravely, to suffer with grace, with His help, we can be capable of deep compassion, because we understand what Jesus went through on the Cross, and that Cross, is our cross.
When Pope John Paul II visited Jerusalem, he prayed at the Western Wall of the Temple, the Wailing Wall. That was an ultimate sign of compassion, compassion for the millions who died in World War II in concentration camps.
Relying on my Dutch ancestry, there are two words in the Dutch language that both mean "Compassion" in English. These words are "Medeleven" and "Medelijden" ("to live with" and "to suffer with," respectively, in a literal translation) "To live with," in this instance, does not mean to live with in the same house, or to work with in the same job. No, the word has a deeper meaning. To me, it means living within the other person's heart, or, to live in another person's sorrow. Let us do this more often, to place ourselves in the life of another person, and thus to be able to help our sisters and brothers in a deeper way. May God bless you and keep you well!
Fred Schaeffer, SFO
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