The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to meditate on attitudes and actions we need to practice to respond to the call of Jesus to join Him in the mission of sharing the fullness of life.
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| Compassion for companion |
The reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah describes the suffering servant who is a Light to the Nations.
* [42:1–4] Servant: three other passages have been popularly called “servant of the Lord” poems: 49:1–7; 50:4–11; 52:13–53:12. Whether the servant is an individual or a collectivity is not clear (e.g., contrast 49:3 with 49:5). More important is the description of the mission of the servant. In the early Church and throughout Christian tradition, these poems have been applied to Christ; cf. Mt 12:18–21.1
Psalm 27 is a triumphant song of confidence.
* [Psalm 27] Tradition has handed down the two sections of the Psalm (Ps 27:1–6; 7–14) as one Psalm, though each part could be understood as complete in itself. Asserting boundless hope that God will bring rescue (Ps 27:1–3), the psalmist longs for the presence of God in the Temple, protection from all enemies (Ps 27:4–6). In part B there is a clear shift in tone (Ps 27:7–12); the climax of the poem comes with “I believe” (Ps 27:13), echoing “I trust” (Ps 27:3).2
In the Gospel of John, Mary anoints Jesus in her home with Martha and Lazarus, who the authorities plot to kill.
* [12:7] Jesus’ response reflects the rabbinical discussion of what was the greatest act of mercy, almsgiving or burying the dead. Those who favored proper burial of the dead thought it an essential condition for sharing in the resurrection.3
Susan Naatz suggests that perhaps our loving God was touching Jesus with compassion through Mary. Father Joseph Nassal invites us to think about compassion through the metaphor of breathing.
Nassal’s powerful image invites us to imagine that Mary, Martha and Lazarus were breathing on the pain of Jesus: "I have come to believe that the only real healing for our deepest hurt is found in inhaling that divine breath which is often felt in the compassion we experience from others...and it is when we know our own pain, our own suffering, our own experiences of sorrow that we find the courage and the sensitivity to breathe upon another's wound." [The Conspiracy of Compassion: Breathing Together for a Wounded World by Fr. Joseph Nassal]
Compassion differs from pity or sympathy because of its depth. When someone reaches out to us with compassion, we recognize its authenticity and when we allow ourselves to be open to the compassion of another, we are gifted with a balm for our pain. It is also one of the significant ways that our compassionate God can reach us…through the love of another.4
Don Schwager quotes “God first loved us,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"Fulfill the commandments out of love. Could anyone refuse to love our God, so abounding in mercy, so just in all His ways? Could anyone deny love to Him Who first loved us despite all our injustice and all our pride? Could anyone refuse to love God Who so loved us as to send His only Son not only to live among human beings but also to be put to death for their sake and at their own hands?." (excerpt from Catechetical Instructions 39)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Isaiah 42:1-7 comments that from early times, the Church saw Jesus as the embodiment of Isaiah’s suffering servant. He is strong enough to establish justice but does not display his power in ways we might expect. He doesn’t shout to make sure he is heard. He doesn’t confront or oust his people’s oppressors. He is gentle with the weak, the timid, the hesitant. He achieves his victory not through force but through self-sacrifice.
This week, accompany Jesus through his passion. As you see how he interacts with the people along his way, ask him to show you the compassion in his heart for them but also for you. Stay close enough to see how this humble and suffering servant shows the love that will lead him all the way to the cross.
“Jesus, you are God’s perfect servant. Help me to stay close to you this whole week.”6
Friar Jude Winkler develops monotheism in the passage of the suffering servant. The nard used by Mary in the Gospel connects to nard in the Song of Songs in the Hebrew Testament. Friar Jude notes the example of Mary in attending to the person in front of her with Love.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that it is hard to bear God—but it is even harder not to bear God. The pain one brings upon oneself by living outside of evident reality is a greater and longer-lasting pain than the brief pain of facing it head on. Enlightened people invariably describe the spiritual experience of God as resting, peace, delight, and even ecstasy.
If our religion has no deep joy and no inherent contentment about it, then it is not the real thing. If our religion is primarily fear of self, the world, and God; if it is primarily focused on meeting religious duties and obligations, then it is indeed a hard yoke and heavy burden. I’d go so far as to say that it’s hardly worthwhile. I think the promise from Jesus that his burden is easy and light seeks to reassure us that rigid and humorless religion is not his way and certainly not the only way.
It is God within us that loves God, so seek joy in God and peace within; seek to rest in the good, the true, and the beautiful. It is the only resting place that also allows us to bear the darkness. Hard and soft, difficult and easy, pain and ecstasy do not eliminate one another, but actually allow each other. They bow back and forth like dancers, although it is harder to bow to pain and to failure. If you look deeply inside every success, there are already seeds and signs of limits; if you look inside every failure, there are also seeds and signs of opportunity.7
The Spirit within shows us our need to connect with the compassion, peace, and justice of God as we prepare to once again learn from Jesus in Holy Week.
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