This Sunday is the churches day for prisoners, a time when
we especially remember prisoners and their families and friends. This day of prayer is aimed at those who are
actually confined in prison for whatever reason but this of course is not the
only sort of imprisonment.
Countless people are imprisoned or trapped by their family
situation, their financial state; trapped in work which is not fulfilling but
is essential to support them. Others
feel imprisoned in health circumstances or a multitude of mental illnesses
which unfortunately also bring with them prejudices of various sorts.
Our Lord, in his journey through Palestine would have come
across many people who would fit into these categories and as we read so often
in the gospels he ‘felt compassion’ for them.
Often this word compassion is understood as sympathy which in some
degree is correct. But the meaning is
actually a lot more powerful than just sympathy, important as this may be. It needs to be looked at as two parts: ‘com’,
from the Latin prefix cum or with and
secondly ‘passion’ from the Latin passus which
is related to the English word ‘Patient’ or the one who suffers from patiens.
So we can see that the compassion which Jesus felt for those
in need was not just sympathy but of being with those who suffer. One way to look at this is to remember when
we use the word Passion. It is the
suffering of Jesus as he goes to the cross to die for us. This can give us some idea of the intensity
of the term compassion when we read it in the gospels. Paul, in the second letter to the
Corinthians, describes God as the ‘Father of compassion and the God of all
comfort’ (2 Corinthians 1:3-7).
Experiencing compassion and giving comfort this is what
Christ calls us to as Christian people.
Let us remember this as we celebrate our Mass this weekend.
