In ancient Greece, people loved beautiful
things, beautiful women, beautiful kids. It’s all too natural and
spontaneous. Such a love called "Eros" was widespread in
the ancient Greek, Roman and Assyrian-Babylonian cultures. With
Jesus, we have a revolution. He does not suppress "Eros"
but he brings to us a new notion called "Agape." The
human being is not a way to play around but he is an end in himself.
We see Jesus in the Gospel healing paralytics, casting out demons,
showing a preference to the marginalized. This is Jesus. Without him,
we would not have known social justice, human rights and respect of
the person.
In the suburbs of Cairo, Beirut, Rome, Paris or
Toronto, billionaires live in luxurious compounds and travel all over
the world for fun, while entire families are packed in one room and
try to survive with a few dollars a day. When you read the gospel,
you cannot accept such a situation.
From the beginning of the Church, the principle
of keeping nothing for oneself was practiced by the Christian
community. At the time, sharing everything with others was a totally
new notion. When persecution of Christians ended in the 4th century,
St. Basil started what we call today hospitals. It was not 5-star
hospitals, but halls and rooms where the sick, the poor and the
hungry were taken care of.
With Jesus, religion becomes compassion. The
good news does not consist of telling the suffering « some day
you will rejoice in heaven with God and his angels » but going
right now to the poor, the distressed, the hungry and treat them as
your brothers and sisters.
Do we know that all that started with Jesus?
Do we know that the Universal Charter of Human Rights is
essentially inspired by the Gospel? Do we know that the principles of
the French Revolution - liberty, equality, fraternity – have their
roots in Christianity? Try to discover such principles in the other
religions around you. Liberty is reserved to rulers and masters.
Equality between man and woman, rich and poor, persons belonging to
other religions does not exist. Fraternity is based on blood, and is
reserved to the members of one’s clan, group or community...
Saint Paul makes it clear that everyone is
equal to everyone else. « There are neither rich nor poor;
neither man nor woman, neither free nor slaves… »
Let’s think of Vincent de
Paul in the 17th century. This nobleman struggled to buy slaves and
free them. You have no idea how horrible was their situation at that
time. They were sold like merchandise or animals in the market places
of Zanzibar and Gorée Island, next to Dakar in
Senegal, then sent from
Africa to the Americas to be sold there. They were laid on top of
each other inside the ship carrying them where they would vomit
or excrete feces on each other for days and weeks.
Vincent de Paul cared for them to the point of
himself becoming a slave for two years due to his activities for
which they wanted to get rid of him. This man inspired scores of
people willing to share Jesus'compassion for the belittled.
Egypt would not have been what it is today
without this army of religious men and women who struggled to build
hospices, hospitals and schools. Their sense of total self-giving is
rooted in Jesus’ teaching. It’s not easy to give your whole life
when you could get a great job, gain money, become rich.
When we see misery around us, we can no longer
settle around a hot meal or get under a warm cover in the cold night
without saying: “Why me and not the others?” A few weeks ago, I
was very tired. When people came to visit me I said to myself "Why
me and not the thousands of other sick persons in Alexandria?"
When I see the medicines I consume to recover and the cost of the
hospital, I say: "Why so many people cannot afford such
expenses?”
Jesus came to reveal us
God's compassion. The word “compassion” comes from the Latin –
compatire
which means “to suffer with, to feel empathy with”. So many
people visiting a sick person sell words and say nice expressions
without true feeling. Oftentimes it’s a comedy of compassion. If
somebody visits me when I am sick, I know immediately if he really
communes with me or not. This is why the Lord sometimes allows us to
suffer tragic incidents... so that when somebody says "I suffer"
we really understand him and feel empathy with him. True compassion
is badly lacking today!
Recently I visited a sick person in a far
hospital. Alone and rejected by his family, he was feeling terribly
hungry. When we brought him food, a large smile appeared on his face!
Mother Teresa insisted that we should go “to
the poorest of the poor". All her followers try to embody her
wish. I am in deep admiration for so many young sisters leaving their
homes and countries to help our poor in Egypt. This is extraordinary.
Lord, give me a heart of compassion... a heart
that beats with those who suffer… a heart able to make their
suffering mine. Along with material help, let me feel true
compassion for them. Let me show them respect, regardless of their
appearance and social status.
The Gospel is a revolution. We do not know what
the world would have been without Christ. We, who are supposed to be
his followers, have a long way to go until we become real Christians.
If Christianity is to continue its powerful presence in the world, it
is by its appeal to the dignity of the human person, created in the
image of God.
Lord, you said "I came to set the earth
on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!" (Luke 12: 49).
Is not this the fire of the Holy Spirit blazing in the heart of
humanity to heal it? Is not this the fire that Christ baptizes us
with in order to return ours to his everlasting joyful heart?
Lord, Give me a heart of compassion like
yours...
Original in French :
