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by Rev. Fr. V.V. Paulose, Toronto, Canada
"The Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged him. Then he put the man on his donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him." (Luke 10:34)
Have you ever cried for compassion and help?
We are not onlookers of pain, wounds, injustice and suppression but active
participants and leaders of opening the flood gate of compassion, justice and
love. We have to take other's wounds as ours. We are all parts of the same body
and the same spirit. Let us start our compassion with our families,
neighborhood, and others whom we meet on our way of life's journey. We have to
use our resources according to the demands of our needs and circumstances. It
seems cosmopolitan life is molding and tutoring the hearts and minds of human
beings to becoming hard and closed to compassion. Nobody knows what is happening
on the other side of the wall where he/she stays. I don't care if somebody dies
or is wounded next door is the response towards the needy by the modern
sophisticated so called cultured world. Are we outwitting the technology and
becoming more or less as a machine without blood and flesh, hearts and minds,
and spirit and conscience in the realms of sensitivity to other's pains and
sorrows? Are we entering into the darkest and end period of human civilization?
Nagaraj, 20, a Brahmin and a high risk TB patient was thrown on the street of
Adayar, Chennai in India by the family. He was on the streets eating the crumbs
thrown by people for a good 25 years. His legs and hands had become crippled.
One compassionate man had directed him to a shelter home and he reached the Home
of Compassion with his shabby dress and crippled body. There he has received
real love, care and treatment. He has become completely free from TB. Then he
has decided to stay permanently at the shelter home and serve the poor, sick and
afflicted. Since his landing at the shelter home, he has served and nursed 63
people on their death beds, including an AIDS patient. He is everywhere in the
Home, helping in the kitchen, shuttling the patients to and from the
Home/hospitals, does the chores for the patients and even helps the priests to
do the funeral ceremony. He wanted to become a Christian and be baptized. He
became one and changed his name to John - the apostle of Love. He is an angel
with crippled hands and legs.
"Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I'm
willing," he said. "Be clean" (Mark 1:41). Don't pledge your compassionate
hearts. We should help others in their pains and sorrows.
Jesus, let us be compassionate to the needy. Help us to comfort those who are in pain. Don't harden our hearts and minds towards the poor, sick, afflicted, widows, widowers and orphans. All we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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