The Sisters Of the Visitation of Tyringham

Live + Jesus

THE COMPASSION OF THE HEART OF CHRIST

by Sister Mary Ruth

October 2006

Dear Friends of the Sacred Heart,

One of the most beautiful words in our English language is the word, "compassion". Compassion is a person's response to another's suffering. The feeling of compassion often prompts a person to help an individual or a group of people in some way, either directly or indirectly. Some of the most beautiful stories that I've ever read are those describing acts of compassion. Today I would like to share four of my most favorite with you.

The first appeared in the November 1, 1943 issue of Life magazine.

It began when 150 German Jews fled from Germany armed with visas for the United States. In order to obtain transportation, they sought refuge in Italy. Soon the war became a World War and the Jews who sought asylum in Italy were arrested and imprisoned. For three years they were interned in the town of Campagna, near the Bay of Salerno, living in a monastery and enjoying the loving care of the local residents. When the Allies bombed the monastery, the Jews fled to the mountains. Within days the Nazis took control of the town and they began to shoot the Italians. When the Jews who were hiding in the mountains learned that the Italians were without medical assistance, four Jewish surgeons returned to the town to care for the many casualties. These Jews knew that the Nazis were searching for them; if caught, they would have been shot or deported to one of the now infamous concentration camps. Yet they did not hesitate. Without medical equipment, they performed forty major operations in two days and saved the Italians.

At the end of World War II, Dr. Joseph Nathan, representing the Hebrew Commission, addressed the Jewish Community of Italy and expressed heartfelt gratitude to those Italians who protected and saved Jews during the Nazi-Fascist persecutions. "Above all," he stated, "we acknowledge the Supreme Pontiff, Pius XII and the men and women religious who, following the directives of the Holy Father, recognized the persecuted Jews as their brothers and sisters and hastened to help them, disregarding the terrible dangers to which they were themselves exposed, including instant death, because of these righteous deeds.

The next account is one of the many stories of compassion that came out of 9/11.

For years, authorities wondered about the identity of a U.S. Marine who appeared at the World Trade Center on September 11,2001, helped find a pair of police officers buried in the rubble, then vanished. Even the producers of the new film chronicling the rescue, "World Trade Center," couldn't locate the mystery serviceman. The only name he'd given at the scene was "Sgt. Thomas."

The puzzle was finally solved when one Jason Thomas, of Columbus, Ohio, happened to catch a TV commercial for the new movie a few weeks ago as he relaxed on his couch. His eyes widened as he saw two Marines with flashlights, hunting for survivors atop the smoldering ruins. "That's us. That's me!" thought the New York native, now working as a court officer in Ohio's Supreme Court. Thomas, 32, hesitantly re-emerged last week to recount the role he played in the rescue of Port Authority police officers Will Jimeno and Sgt. John McLoughlin, who were entombed beneath twenty feet of debris when the twin towers collapsed.

Now a father of five, Thomas had been out of the Marine Corps for about a year when the terrorists struck on 9/11. He was dropping a daughter off at his mother's Long Island home when she told the news about the plane hitting the World Trade Center. "My mother insisted it must be an accident," he said. Thomas believed differently. Rushing to his car, he dug in his trunk, retrieved his Marine uniform and put it on. Minutes later, he was speeding toward Manhattan, eventually finding himself on the West Side Highway following a convoy of police cars. He had just parked when one of the towers collapsed.

"All I saw was ash. Ash coming in my direction," Thomas said. As it billowed around him, he knelt by the side of his car and pulled his shirt up over his mouth. Then, he got up and ran at the center of the cloud. "Someone needed help. It didn't matter who," he said. "I didn't even have a plan. But I have all this training as a Marine, and all I could think was, 'My city is in need.'"Thomas spent hours putting people on stretchers and setting up triage stations before bumping into another ex-Marine, Staff Sgt. David Kames. Like him Karnes had also grabbed his fatigues and headed into Manhattan when he learned of the attacks. Acting on their own, the pair decided to search for survivors. Carrying little more than flashlights and an infantryman's shovel, they climbed the mountain of debris and began an hours-long hunt, skirting dangerous crevasses and shards of red-hot metal, calling out, "Is anyone down there? United States Marines!"

The last story appeared in the Berkshire Eagle last week.

"Nick Whalen knows the story of Haiti is a difficult one to tell. He also knows it's a difficult one to sell, especially through the lens of an 18-year-old who lives in sneakers and jeans. But this budding photo-journalist from Pittsfield is succeeding in his mission, with his own mind, finances and finesse. "During a journey that has included two trips to the Caribbean nation, Whalen has overcome language barriers, befriended the Brazilian commander of a United Nations base and been exposed to Haiti's toughest slums through the stories of street kids...

On September 26 Nick will spend a month in Haiti, his third since December 2004. He dropped out of school on September 20, 2006 in order to pursue his dream to photograph the Haitian people, this time to show a positive picture of Haiti, community of renewed patriotism and resilience. Nick has developed a friendship with the street boys, refugees and runaways whom he has met through the nonprofit Haiti Street Kids Inc. He says he has fallen in love with the kids and wants to do what he can to help them."

In each of the above accounts we read about persons who, moved by compassion, reached out to help other people, even at the price of their risking their own lives to do so.

The Gospels portray many acts of compassion performed by Jesus. The parables Jesus told and the miracles He performed all flowed from His loving and compassionate Heart

One of Jesus' most touching miracles is that of his raising the only son of a widowed Mother from the dead. "Now soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a great number of people. When he was near the gate of the town it happened that a dead man was being carried out for burial, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A and a considerable number of the townspeople were with her. When the Lord saw her he felt sorry for her. 'Do not cry' he said. Then he went up and put his hand on the bier and the bearers stood still, and he said, 'Young man, I tell you to get up'. And the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Luke 7:11-16 In Jesus' day woman had no status apart from her relationship to her husband. In her widowhood a woman depended on other male relatives or, in the case of the widow of Nain, on her grown son. Jesus is moved by what must have been a terrible loss for this woman. She had been deprived of a husband through death, and then of her only son on whom she was now utterly dependent. Jesus' heart responded to such a tragedy. He was no doubt thinking of his own widowed Mother as he met that funeral procession. His compassionate heart went out to this grieving woman. Jesus put his hand on her son's bier and spoke those wonderfully miraculous words, 'Young man, I tell you to get up'. And esus, the Son of Mary, gave the young man back to his widowed mother. Imagine the wonder and joy that flooded that mother's heart.

We could listen to the accounts of Jesus' miracles of healing without our hearts being profoundly touched. However, if we take the time to read them often and slowly, we will find our hearts being moved, particularly if we put ourselves in the place of the one who is being cured. At that moment in prayer we would come to realize the utter relief that the person experienced in his or her healing. We would be moved by the joy of the family and friends of the one who was cured. In praying with the love and compassion that flows from the Heart of Jesus our own hearts would be seized and inflamed by the love of His Heart. Christ's love would shape and transform our own hearts and make them compassionate like his own Heart "Those who are devoted to the heart of Jesus leam how to love, with Jesus and 'in Jesus', our neighbor and all those loved by him... devotion to the Sacred Heart will lead to an active compassion toward all people without reserve... from "The Heart of Jesus" by Bernard Haring, CSSR.

We cannot say we are devoted to the Heart of Jesus without our being willing to put on the mind and the heart of Jesus...to love our family, our friends, and all those persons with whom we come in contact with the same love with which Jesus has loved us and loves them. We should often pray for the grace to love others with the love of the Heart of Jesus. It is a grace, a gift, for it is difficult to really love those for whom we feel little or no love at all. If we ask Jesus, He will give us the grace to do so. He will give us His love and His compassion for all with whom we live and who we meet each day.

Let us pray:

Sacred Heart of Jesus, we ask you to give us new hearts filled with your Spirit and overflowing with generosity and kindness for all of your children. Now and always we beg you to grant us this love, these new hearts. Let us be at home in the Heart of Jesus, so that we may love all people with His Love. Amen.