“Be Compassionate”

Thai postage stamp honoring Goddess Guan Yin
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.’ Gospel Luke 6:36-38

While in Thailand, I discovered a postage stamp that pictured the goddess with a thousand arms. Not knowing the story of the thousands arms and thousand eyes, I did a little research and discovered that this goddess, Guan Yin, is one who hears the sounds or cries of the world. She listens and with her thousand eyes finds those who suffer or need help. Her arms allow her to snatch them out of their suffering or to keep evil at bay. Guan Yin is a Buddhist Bodhisattva of compassion.

I was drawn to the image as an expression of Divine compassion, emphasizing the feminine face of God. Today’s reading instructs us to be instruments of compassion in the world. Today, bombarded by images and sound bites of suffering and disasters world wide, we can feel overwhelmed by the need and underwhelmed by our abilities to meet it.

When I feel like this, I remember the story of the young boy with a few loaves and fishes in the midst of thousands of hungry people. Jesus asked only for what the boy had. By itself, it would provide a meager lunch for a few, but Jesus did not expect the boy to feed the crowd by himself. Jesus took what the boy had and made it more than enough.

We are not able to fix the woes of the world, nor are we able to assist all those who need help. Still, we are called to respond, giving unselfishly of what we have, and counting on Jesus to make it more than enough. We might give to those in our families, to our community, or donate to relief efforts around the world. We give from our need, as Mother Theresa said, and God will take care of the rest. Alms giving is one of the traditional Lenten practices, and today’s gospel reading calls us to reflect on what we are doing in our lives to share the compassion of God.

While we are at it, we should also remember to be compassionate to ourselves. One can give so much of self away that little is left. Some of us are quick to give to others, to forgive, to sacrifice, but do not extend the same loving care to ourselves. Taking time to refresh, to do things that rejuvenate body and spirit is not selfish. God treasures each of us and wants what is good for us. Taking time to reconnect with God in our lives through prayer and reflection bears fruit in our lives.