Missionaries of the Sacred

Certainly eternal life is promised to us by God on account of how we answer the same question that the Scholar asked, “who is my neighbor?” Our love for others emanates from our love for God. The same love encourages us to love our neighbors. The more we show our love for God, the more He blesses us with love to be shared with our neighbors. Neighbors are people with whom we share our joys and sorrows. Neighbors are often the people with whom we share our lives.

Jesus is at times called ‘The Good Samaritan’ by Christians. The only difference between the other passerby and the Samaritan is his human quality; the passage says, ‘moved with compassion’. (Lk 10:25-37) Compassion is one of the greatest qualities of Jesus we see throughout the gospels. He was moved with pity, moved with compassion, which moved him to work miracles such as curing the sick, the blind, the deaf and mute.

People talk about the ‘Heart values’ of Christians these days. As Christians we are encouraged by the Good Samaritan to understand the value of being moved with compassion. Being moved with compassion always means opening our hearts to the promptings of the Spirit. Compassion is the quality of the divine. We share the heart of God by immersing ourselves in the compassion of God. Compassion also makes us resemble Him and His heart on earth.

Compassion does not lead us to half-finish the business but to complete the good works. It makes us to go all the way, like the Good Samaritan. He followed through with his mission of love. He was moved with compassion at the beginning, middle and end of the kind act. How do we show our kindness? When was the last time our heart was moved with compassion?

By Fr. Antony Lazar, MSC