Nouwen: compassion

Tuesday, November 10, 2015
    Feast of Leo the Great, Bishop of Rome, 461
Meditation:
    He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.
    —Proverbs 19:17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    For a compassionate man nothing human is alien: no joy and no sorrow, no way of living and no way of dying.
    This compassion is authority because it does not tolerate the pressures of the in-group, but breaks through the boundaries between languages and countries, rich and poor, educated and illiterate. This compassion pulls people away from the fearful clique into the large world where they can see every human face is the face of a neighbor. Thus the authority of compassion is the possibility of man to forgive his brother, because forgiveness is only real for him who has discovered the weakness of his friends and the sins of his enemy in his own heart.
    ... Henri J. M. Nouwen (1932-1996), The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society [1979], New York: Doubleday, 2013, p. 41 (see the book)
    See also Pr. 19:17; Matt. 9:36; Rom. 12:15; Gal. 6:2; Heb. 4:15; 5:2; 13:3; 1 Pet. 3:8; 1 John 3:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I am weak and sinful, like those to whom You send me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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