Compassion is a human feeling that we all experience, perhaps even every day. It is also one of the great Christian virtues and a tangible expression of love for those who suffer or are in need. Compassion has strong foundations in Scripture. Psalm 144 reminds us that ‘the Lord is kind and full of compassion, slow to anger, abounding in love. He is good to all, compassionate to all His creatures’.
Two of the most enduring parables of Jesus are centred on expressions of compassion. The father shows great compassion when the prodigal son finally returns home. The Good Samaritan has compassion for the man who was beaten up by thieves. Both parables remind us that, when we are confronted with the suffering of others, we also take action to help and to relieve that suffering.
Compassion and our positive response to the suffering we see around us are perhaps the greatest expression of love of neighbour. We should also remember the words of Jesus, ‘love your neighbour as yourself’. This is a great reminder that we also need to be a true friend to ourselves – we all need self-compassion. This is not in any way selfish but an acknowledgement that from time to time we need to turn some of our compassion towards ourselves.
Being a compassionate person helps one to understand that human suffering is universal and that we all experience suffering from time to time. Sometimes our suffering can be physical, and we normally react pretty quickly to relieve the pain or the sickness that we feel. This is a reminder that, if our compassion does not include ourselves, it is incomplete. Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would extend to others. It means giving the same forgiveness to ourselves that we would give to others.
We all experience hurt and trauma in our lives and we often fail to attend to our inner suffering be it mental, spiritual or emotional. The worries, guilt, regrets, anxieties and fears all take a toll on our mental health. We need to acknowledge them and take time to address them. We need to embrace the suffering and realise that accepting ourselves as we are is not a luxury. We will never be perfect, and we need to be kind to ourselves. We must learn to approve of ourselves instead of being critical of ourselves.
Above all, we need to realise that without love and compassion we cannot survive.
Image: Photo by Jackson David on Unsplash
Brian Starken C.S.Sp.
