The Body Matters in Compassion

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today offer an opportunity to consider how bodily presence is so important to give full meaning to our mission as disciples of Jesus.

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The passage from the Acts of the Apostles shows Peter continuing to exercise the mission of Jesus to show compassion and address the bodily needs of people as a revelation of the Love of God.

* [3:6–10] The miracle has a dramatic cast; it symbolizes the saving power of Christ and leads the beggar to enter the temple, where he hears Peter’s proclamation of salvation through Jesus.

In the Resurrection narrative from the Gospel of Luke, the dejected and despondent disciples on the road to Emmaus are able to be reconnected to Jesus as He breaks bread with them.

* [24:16] A consistent feature of the resurrection stories is that the risen Jesus was different and initially unrecognizable (Lk 24:37; Mk 16:12; Jn 20:14; 21:4).

Beth Samson comments that when the disciples gathered around the table, they were astonished to find that this “stranger” was Jesus. She exhorts us to consider our experience of compassion from and for strangers.

In the midst of desolation, do we welcome those who accompany us? Do we allow them to walk with us in this difficult time? Do we allow Jesus to be our companion in and through sorrow? In return, do we feel called to accompany those around us who are experiencing despair and confusion? How can we listen to their stories and walk with them in their pain?

Don Schwager shares a meditation on why was it difficult for the disciples to recognize the risen Lord.

Jesus' death scattered his disciples and shattered their hopes and dreams. They had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. They saw the cross as defeat and could not comprehend the empty tomb until the Lord Jesus appeared to them and gave them understanding.

Friar Jude Winkler positions the actions of Peter in the time when Jesus disciples continued to be connected to the Temple. Luke offers a pattern for developing a relationship with Jesus in the three resurrection accounts in his Gospel. We hear about Jesus, encounter Him in Word and Sacrament, and then, develop a relationship with Him in person.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, quotes historian Morris Berman as he shares the insight that deep knowing and presence do not happen with our thinking minds.

In his book Coming to Our Senses, historian Morris Berman makes the point that our first experience of life is not merely a visual or audio one of knowing ourselves through other people’s facial and verbal responses; it is primarily felt in the body. He calls this feeling kinesthetic knowing. We know ourselves in the security of those who hold us, skin to skin. This early knowing is not so much heard, seen, or thought. It’s felt. [2]

Fr Rohr summarizes our reflection with the truth that we need spirituality to help heal the brokenness of our identity and our world. True spirituality is always bringing us back to the original bodily knowing that is unitive experience.
References


(n.d.). Acts, chapter 3 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved April 4, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts/3

(n.d.). Luke 24. Retrieved April 4, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/luke24.htm

(n.d.). Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved April 4, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 4, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved April 4, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/