Monday, First Week of Lent

MONDAY, FIRST WEEK OF LENT

Love of God Means Love of Others

Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food…” Matthew 25:34, 35

What does it mean to live in the world with a truly compassionate heart, a heart that remains open to all people at all times? It is very important to realize that compassion is more than sympathy or empathy. When we are asked to listen to the pains of people and empathize with their suffering, we soon reach our emotional limits. We can listen only for a short time and only to a few people. In our society we are bombarded with so much “news” about human misery that our hearts easily get numbed simply because of overload. But God’s compassionate heart does not have limits. God’s heart is greater, infinitely greater, than the human heart. It is that divine heart that God wants to give us so that we can love all people without burning out or becoming numb. It is for this compassionate heart that we pray when we say: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me” (Psalm 51:10, 11). The Holy Spirit is given to us so that we can become participants in God’s compassion and so reach out to all people at all times with God’s heart.

Lord, when I fail to love others, as I often do, help me realize that it is because I’ve first failed to love you, the source of all love. This Lent help me to reach out to someone who is poor – in body or spirit – someone whose love for you may be fading.

Henri J. M. Nouwen


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