Opening Prayer: Loving Father, teach me to love and care for
those that need you today. Those who are
passed over and do not feel love unless I love them for you. May Christ's love for others be felt through
me today. In your name and by your power
I pray these things. Amen. (Disciplines
for the Inner Life by Bob Benson)
Scripture: Matthew 9:35-38
Journal: What goes on in your heart when you see people in
great need? What went on in the heart of
Jesus? How do we cultivate a heart of
compassion for others?
Reflection:
If someone asked you if you were compassionate, you
might readily say yes. Or at least, “I
believe so.” But pause to examine the
word compassion and answering gets more complicated. For the word comes from roots that mean
literally to “suffer with”; to show compassion means sharing in the suffering
“passion” of another. Compassion
understood in this way asks more from us than a mere stirring of pity or a sympathetic
word.
To live with compassion means to enter
others’ dark moments. It is to walk into
places of pain, not to flinch or look away when another agonizes. It means to stay where people suffer. Compassion holds us back from quick, eager
explanations when tragedy meets someone we know or love. (Turn My
Mourning Into Dancing by Henri J. M. Nouwen)
Prayers
Closing Prayer: Our Father, here I am, at your disposal, your
child, to use me to continue your loving the world, by giving Jesus to me and
through me, to each other and the world.
Let us pray for each other as we allow Jesus to love in us and through
us with the love with which His Father loves him. (Seeking the Heart of
God by Mother Teresa)
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