Compassion

Love has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Love and compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which Love is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which Love is to bless us now.

Compassion is the Whole Souul Living Theme for April, and the quote above is adapted from St. Teresa of Avila.

Some questions for individual and communal reflection:

• Compassion is said to be both the means and the end of the spiritual life.  Is this true?  Does it feel true?  Have you tested the hypothesis?  Will you?

• Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”  Is this a great spiritual truth?  Simple economics?  Or, is it both?

• Does compassion have any meaning or value if it’s only in our heads?  In other words, is compassion just a feeling?  Or, does compassion require action?\

• In the experience of your own heart, which comes first; Love or Compassion?

• Relate a time when you the recipient of compassion.  What did this teach you about how compassion works?