<\/p>\n\n\n\n
O<\/mark>f the many times the New Testament reveals the manifest compassion of Jesus for the people, one instance stands apart.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It is found in His words to the disciples, spoken just before the multiplication of the loaves in the wilderness: \u201cI have compassion on the multitude\u201d (Mark 8:2).<\/p>\n\n\n\n People were following Him from every direction. Some, as He Himself noted, had \u201ccome from afar.\u201d The Gospel account wants us to see that the crowds had chosen Jesus as if He were their very time and place, as if He were all that remained for them. They were all together in a desolate land. The day was drawing to a close, and for three days they had been utterly captivated by this Galilean Teacher, by what He said and what He did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this atmosphere, charged with wonder, Jesus took His disciples aside and said to them: \u201cI have compassion on the multitude\u2026 I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.\u201d Then He fed them and sent them on their way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This scene paints for us a foundational belief: no one in this universe can choose Jesus for himself\u2014as his time and place, as his food and drink, as his very life, unless he is first settled in the conviction that God does not give to us because of any good within us, but simply because He is a God who has compassion on people.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n No one deserves anything from God. Not a single thing. But God does not look to our merit (indeed, no rational person would speak of merit as a cause for God\u2019s action), but rather to what makes us greatest in His eyes: His own gifts, accepted by us. This encourages us to say, with confidence, that the word \u201ccompassion\u201d does not merely reveal an emotion hidden or displayed in Jesus, but an act that is profoundly salvific<\/strong>. In everything He does, Jesus cannot descend from His Cross (cf. Mark 15:30). He had compassion on them, and He fed them. He always wills for people to be alive. He always wills for us<\/em> to be alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is no better word than this, compassion, by which to examine ourselves each day. This is especially true in these times, when so many among us are invaded by troubled thoughts about God and the communion of His Church, particularly concerning corporate prayer and Holy Communion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A pandemic has held the world in its grip. Let us, then, examine ourselves. The churches of the earth, for the most part, chose to commit themselves to the service of life when the pandemic was at its height. They opened their doors with great care and attention. The pandemic\u2019s hold has not yet ended, but we have not remained oblivious to its danger or to the measures needed to avoid infection. Many have become more conscious of its reality. Now, churches are open, as are most aspects of society, with known precautions and at certain capacities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this situation, as in any other, is it fitting for us to fear the God whose compassion calls us to His table? This is a soul-saving examination. It compels us to be reconciled with the truth that in all things\u2014yes, in all things<\/strong>, we live by grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The disciples said to Jesus concerning the crowds, \u201cSend them away.\u201d He replied, \u201cI do not want to\u2026 lest they faint on the way.\u201d Compassion is not an abstract emotion; it is the very act of giving life. Jesus had compassion on the multitudes, and He has compassion on us in every circumstance. This means He refuses to let us be exposed to peril. His refusal to send the crowds away hungry was a refusal to let them perish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is one of the principal truths that ought to dwell within us always, especially before we enter our own spiritual \u201cwilderness\u201d, that is, as we prepare for the Divine Liturgy with prayer and fasting. We should say to ourselves with unwavering trust: we are going to the compassionate God who desires nothing for us but life, today and tomorrow. This is our heritage: we have no life apart from God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In recording this event, the Evangelist does not say that among the crowds gathered around Jesus there were people fearful of the strain of exhaustion or of dying in the wilderness. Rather, he tells us that there was a great God who has compassion on the people. This is a word that is open to all people, to us, for all time and in every place, in every gathering for salvation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Open your ears and listen well: the Evangelist is telling us today, in our own gatherings and in any place where we feel threatened, that Jesus is still the same. He is present, and He has compassion on the multitude.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The words of Jesus, \u201cI have compassion on the multitude,\u201d reveal a core truth of our faith. God\u2019s compassion is not simply an emotion; it is a profoundly salvific act. He gives not because we are worthy, but because He is a God who always desires life for us in every circumstance...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88889,"featured_media":9581,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[342],"tags":[2503,2050,1293,3124,3123],"class_list":["post-9568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-divine-compassion","tag-grace-of-god","tag-orthodox-christian-life","tag-pandemic-faith","tag-spiritual-nourishment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherelia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherelia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherelia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherelia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88889"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherelia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9568"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherelia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9573,"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherelia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9568\/revisions\/9573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherelia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherelia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherelia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fatherelia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}