A friend’s mom has cancer… your cousin didn’t make the track team … a man on the side of the road asks for money because he is homeless … These are all examples of situations where we could respond with compassion. Compassion actually means “co-suffering” or suffering with another. When we are compassionate towards others, we wish to alleviate their suffering. Compassion is connected to empathy. To show empathy means you enter into the experience of the suffering person. How do we do this? How do we show empathy and compassion to others? What would Jesus do?
Whether we realize it or not, we all have role models. These are the people we look to for advice and counsel. People who we model our behavior after, or people who inspire us to achieve more in our life. As Catholic Christians we can have lots of role models, but our ultimate role model is Jesus Christ. Jesus set the perfect example of love and forgiveness. By imitating Jesus, our ultimate role model, we become more Christ-like and grow closer to God. We can follow His plan for our life and our salvation.
There are many types of disabilities that a person may have, like someone may not be able to walk, or see or hear…or even communicate with us. Some disabilities are more noticeable than others… but whatever the disability….we must remember that the disability does not define us. We are all first and foremost defined as sons and daughters of God, each with unique gifts and talents to contribute to the world. So what can we learn from people who have physical and mental disabilities? How can we see past their disability and get to know the person inside?
Many of us find a place of creativity in ourselves. We play instruments, sing, or write music. Even if we aren’t artistic geniuses, many of us have written a poem or two, created stories, drawn or painted. How can we take these creative gifts and talents to create works and stories that reflect the beauty of God? How can we do this in a way that may not even necessarily be outwardly religious? How can we lift the spirits of others by sharing with them some aspect of the presence of God in our midst?
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus tells us that this journey called life will not always be easy. But that even in our darkest moments –when we feel most alone — He will always be there to help us up …and that with Him, we will have the strength to keep moving forward and bouncing back. We will survive the hard times and the challenges we face with Jesus as our rock.
