“Compassion…the Greatest Form of Love”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
February 23 – 24, 2019
Scripture: Luke 6:27-38
27) But I say this to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28) Bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly. 29) To anyone who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek as well; to anyone who takes your cloak from you, do not refuse your tunic. 30) Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask for your property back from someone who takes it. 31) Treat others as you would like people to treat you. 32) If you love those who love you, what credit can you expect? Even sinners love those who love them. 33) And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit can you expect? For even sinners do that much. 34) And if you lend to those from whom you hope to get money back, what credit can you expect? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount. 35) Instead, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend without any hope of return. You will have a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36) Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate. 37) Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38) Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap; because the standard you use will be the standard used for you.
I work at the Veterans’ Administration (VA) Hospital in Salisbury one or two days a week. A VA hospital is different from a civilian one. Unlike at civilian hospitals, these patients were in the military and have been trained to kill.
I have access to patient records so that before I go into a patient’s room for a visit, I can review them and be aware of any behavioral issues that could pose a risk to my safety and to others. Some of the patients are just plain bad people…but, some have had bad breaks in life and are hurting….others suffer from cancer or alcoholism….and still others suffer from some sort of trauma like Military Sexual Trauma (MST) or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). I approach patients differently depending on their background and diagnoses. We cannot judge people on how they look or how they act. Were their actions evil? Perhaps. Are they sick? Yes. But, nobody is beyond God’s love and mercy.
A hospital is not exactly a happy place to be. It is very likely that patients and their families are dealing with a fair amount of stress. One time, a social worker was talking to a Marine…a big guy. I could tell that the Social Worker was getting nervous and that the guy was becoming increasingly agitated. It was apparent that the patient was not getting the answers he wanted to hear. So, to calm the situation, I stepped between them and asked the Marine what was going on. By simply talking to him, one soldier to another, he was able to regain his composure. Treating him with compassion relieved his stress.
On another occasion, the nurses told me I needed to visit a Hospice patient who had a statue of Buddha in his room. It took several visits for this man to finally open up to me. When he did, he told me that the silver band he wore had 29 notches on it which represented the 29 Japanese soldiers he had killed. This patient, who was brilliant, was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD). But, he was able to deal with the horror he had seen by finding peace in Buddha.
We were at a local restaurant last week after Mass when I noticed a disheveled man who looked as if he was down on his luck and suffering from addiction. I could tell he didn’t have much money. So, I told the waitress that I would pay for his breakfast and asked her to please tell the man that God loves him. A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal. Compassion is a verb…an action word. It is not enough to feel compassion. We are called to both pray for others and to take physical actions to help them. Too often, we underestimate the power of the smallest act of caring which has the potential to turn a life around.
You have heard me say that I’m not much, but I’m all I think about. We all tend to think about ourselves incessantly, and it can be tough to think about others. For example, it can be very frustrating to be stuck in traffic behind a slow driver. After all, we have very important things to accomplish and places to be, so why is the person in front of me driving so slowly, or why did they cut me off in traffic!! In these cases, we need to step out of our shoes and walk a mile in theirs. Instead of honking our horns, we need to be kind…to have compassion, because we don’t know what they might be dealing with in their lives.
How will you apply this message to your life? Will you pray for those who are hurting? Will you show compassion by taking action and trying to help them?