February 05, 2023

Is 58: 7-10

Thus says the Lord:
Share your bread with the hungry,
  bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, cover them,
  and do not hide yourself from your own kin.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
  and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
  the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
  you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.
If you remove the yoke from among you,
  the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
if you offer your food to the hungry
  and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
  and your gloom be like the noonday.

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

A Compassion Filled with Awe

Today’s reading from the prophet Isaiah is pretty easy on the ears, at first. We understand our Christian duty to share with others, feed the hungry, and give shelter where and when we can. We try not to turn our backs on anyone. But then we run smack dab into that person blocking our way into Walgreens, asking for money when all we want to do is run a quick errand. Is this person really homeless? Are they hungry? What if they use the money I give them on drugs?

Pope Francis has said that giving to someone in need is always the right thing to do. And I enjoyed his answer to a follow-up question: What if the person to whom you give your money spends it on a glass of wine? The Pope replied that if a glass of wine is the only happiness that person has in life, it’s okay. “Instead, ask yourself, what do you do on the sly? What ‘happiness’ do you seek in secret?” He suggested that we consider our own blessings— a safe home, loving family— and ask why our responsibility to help should be pushed onto someone else?

Alongside the Pope’s call into compassionate service, I pray with these words from Fr. Greg Boyle, SJ, who reminds us to always be seeking “a compassion that can stand in awe at what the poor have to carry rather than stand in judgment at how they carry it.” 

What is a loving and Christ-like thing we can do to lift the yoke of someone in need today?

—Fr. Joe Kraemer, SJ, is a priest of the West Province who was ordained at the Church of the Gesu in Milwaukee last June. He currently resides and works in Seattle, Washington.

Prayer

A Prayer for All Who Serve

As we serve others we are working on ourselves.
Every act, every word, every gesture of genuine compassion naturally
nourishes our own hearts as well.

It is not a question of who is healed first.
When we attend to ourselves with compassion and mercy,
more healing is made available for others. 

And when we serve others with an open and generous heart,
great healing comes to us.

—Mahatma Gandhi