HOMILY FOR THE 18TH MONDAY IN ORDINARY TIME — YEAR A
HOMILY THEME: CHRISTLIKE COMPASSION
BY: Fr. Paul Karabari
‘..the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages..’
The Gospel (Matthew 14:13-21) begins with Jesus hearing the news about John the Baptist being executed by Herod Antipas the Tetrarch. And the immediate withdrawal to a lonely place. Soon, there was a very large crowd, and then Jesus showed one of the qualities that we all need in our lives. Jesus had compassion on the crowd gathered about Him.
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Jesus had travelled to this lonely place to get away from the crowds, and yet now we find many people assembled around Him again. How would you have felt? His cousin had been killed, and He was looking forward to some relative peace and quiet. He got in a boat and sailed away, trying to get away from the crowds, yet when He reached His destination, some people were already there, and more were coming. Would you be frustrated? Maybe even a little bit angry? Do you think you would have felt justified in telling the people to go away and come back another time? Probably, but that is not what we see in Jesus; the difference between God and man. Instead, we find that Jesus “had compassion on them.”
Take note that God is not indifferent to the things we go through. Jesus is not cold and remote from the suffering of mankind. Here, we find another occasion when Jesus would have had every right to tell the people to give Him a break and leave Him alone. But Jesus was deeply moved over the physical suffering, the confusion, the spiritually wayward state of the people. Jesus felt physical and emotional pain. That is why He is a sympathetic High Priest. Jesus knows what we are feeling and here we find that He was emotionally moved and extended His compassion even to those were shallow, self-centered thrill seekers, to those He knew would reject Him only a short time later.
His disciples suggested that the people be sent away. But Jesus refused to do so. No human being cares more about your condition than God. Jesus extended mercy to the crowds then, and He continues to do so now. Regardless of what state or situation you may find yourself in today, Jesus is able and willing to extend compassion to you if you receive it. You can bring your troubles to Him, and you will find sympathy, compassion, and love.
We would all agree that it is not enough to just have a feeling of compassion for someone. That compassion must result in some kind of action if it is to do any good. This is stated very clearly in James 2:15, 16, “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?” It is worthless. Feelings of compassion need to result in acts of mercy if they are to be of any benefit to anyone.
It is both interesting and significant to note that all of Jesus’ miracles were related in some way with a demonstration of His compassion toward men. If Jesus had wanted to demonstrate His power, He could have started moving mountains around, but that would not have demonstrated His love for man. Instead, most of His miracles were directly to individual people such as physical healings, casting out demons, forgiving their sins, and even those that were not, such as calming the storm, were done in response to the cry for help by those threatened by the calamity upon them. We do need to be moved by the suffering of others and reach out to them even when it is inconvenient for us.
Jesus understands – how comforting! Whatever situation, challenge, or adversity we find ourselves in, Jesus is saying, ‘I can relate. I have been there.’ Pressure? Rejection? Pain? Temptation? Slander? Lies? False accusations? He understands because He has been there. Responds to the needs of others. It’s not enough just to recognise and relate to the needs of others. You have been called to action on a practical level; otherwise, your compassion is meaningless. Jesus responded to sick people with healing, to hungry people with food, and to lost people with the good news of the Gospel.
Compassion has no limits. It sponsors a hungry child, helps change a tyre for someone stranded on the side of the road, brings a meal to someone who is grieving, and listens patiently to someone who needs a friend. Compassion gets its hands dirty; it writes cheques; it sacrifices its own agenda, schedule, desires, and dreams to meet the needs of another. But more importantly, when you are convinced of how good and compassionate God has been, then nothing at all should separate you from His love. GOD IS STILL IS THE THRONE. May God have mercy on us, heal our country, Nigeria, bless and protect us this month through Christ Our Lord Amen.
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