Love, Charity, and Compassion
Lent – Week 5 – Compassion
Whenever I think of Mother Teresa the first thing comes to my mind is her love and care for the needy. She demonstrated this through action. Her very life and her charitable mission in Calcutta, now known as Kolkatta, will be remembered for ever. She gave her energy, time and her life, for the betterment of the poor and suffering people in India. Her compassionate acts were a reflection of the very nature of Jesus and his mission and ministry on earth – and her service was for all people regardless of cultural and faith backgrounds.
As we think on the example of Mother Teresa, we can move on to examining ourselves, and asking God to help us to be generous to people who are in need. We can also ask him to help us to put aside our own ‘busyness’ so that we can become more available to those people around who are in need of support and care. Our compassionate acts might be…
- meeting an elderly person who is feeling lonely,
- spending time with someone who doesn’t get out or have many visitors
- tending the wounds (whether literally or metaphorically) of those who are hurt
- helping someone with a practical tasks
- ‘simply’ smiling at a stranger – smiles are multi-lingual!
Love, charity, and compassion are all linked to each other whilst remaining distinctive in themselves. A quote from Mother Teresa helps us explore this:
“Love is not patronising and charity isn’t about pity, it is about love. Charity and love are the same — with charity you give love, so don’t just give money but reach out your hand instead.”
