A God of compassion.

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Gospel: Matthew 9:32-38

A demoniac who could not speak was brought to Jesus,
and when the demon was driven out the mute man spoke.
The crowds were amazed and said,
“Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”
But the Pharisees said,
“He drives out demons by the prince of demons.”

Jesus went around to all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness.
At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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There’s nothing that pains the Lord more than human suffering. In addition to today’s Gospel passage, consider a few other moments when Jesus is moved with pity.

His heart broke when he saw the widow at Nain. 

This poor mother was on her way to bury her son – something no parent should experience. Perhaps the Lord imagined how his own mother would feel when Calvary came. Overcome with compassion, Jesus touches the boy’s tomb. Instantly, he’s brought back to life.

Then Jesus is moved with pity when he gazes upon a tired and hungry crowd. 

Thousands had been following him for days, but they had nothing to eat. So, the Lord multiplies loaves of bread and, the Gospel tells us, “all ate and were filled.”

He’s stirred with compassion again after being confronted by a leper who spent his entire life in isolation. Feeling this man’s loneliness and sense of abandonment, Jesus forgives his sins, heals him, and sets him free.

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We could add thousands of other examples in our world today that pierce our Lord’s heart with pity. 

But, as Teresa of Avila once wrote, “Christ has no hands now but yours. No body but yours. Yours are the eyes with which he sees. Yours the hands with which he blesses. Christ has no body now but yours.”

What, then, are we to do?

“Ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for the harvest,” Jesus says in today’s Gospel.

May he send us.

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Image credits: (1) The Millennial Pastor (2) Renovate (3) Germantown Presbyterian Church