The passion to be compassionate

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 14th week in Ordinary time

July 7, 2026: Hosea 8: 4-7, 11-13; Matthew 9: 32-38

The Word today presents to us two contrasting realities: the obstinate sinfulness of the people and the absolute compassion of the Lord. A contrast that fills the pages of the Salvation history, right from its beginning up until now, until our own days and our own lives!

In the first reading, Hosea points out how despicable the people were getting. The dwindling faith, the blatant compromises, deliberate choices for what is ungodly, absolutisation of human autonomy, justification of a lawless economy... wait! are these not the experiences that the society is grappling with even today?

Is there a way out of these? Surely no, as long as the idolising tendency of the human person does not disappear. Today we make idols out of money, possessions, our own ego, power and position, status and social image, sometimes so ironically, even of our own religiosity, forgetting the actual epicentre of true meaning of our existence! How many values, persons and principles we sacrifice in the bargain! As if that is not enough, the society is ever ready to demonise those who stand for justice and truth, those who speak up for God, those who stand for God's people. The so-called mainstream society ostracises those persons as anti-socials, conservatives and anti-progress individuals.

Jesus presents himself to us as a motivating role model, inspiring us to stand for God and for the values of the Reign, inspite of the world that threatens us. Jesus is absolutely compassionate even when he finds that the people were not ready to understand him totally, some of them in fact were calumniating against him. Nothing would perturb Jesus... and it was so because, it was his passion to make people feel the compassion of God. Yes, the theme we reflected on yesterday... being the compassion of God and being compassionate with suffering children of God. 

The challenge today is, whether we can be still compassionate, even though we find those around, not really worthy of it!

To be the compassion of God

WORD 2day: Monday, 14th week in Ordinary time

July 6, 2026: Hosea 2:16, 17c-18, 21-22; Matthew 9: 18-26

We begin to listen to prophet Hosea from today... and Hosea brings out an intense dimension of God's love towards us. He offers the analogy of a spousal love to the relationship between God and God's people. A reminder to us, of the how compassionate God is towards us God's people. The central call is that we realise the Comapassion that God is.

Jesus brings out the same compassion in his own way, his heart goes out to the woman with the suffering and his tender love reaches out to the girl on the death bed. The readings present to us Jesus, as the compassion of God and in doing so has an underlying commission to us. As we are given to understand and acknowledge Jesus as the Compassion of God, we are called and challenged to be the compassion of God in our own way, wherever we are and in whatever we do.

In a culture that is widespread today where the very meaning and implication of love is misunderstood or insensitively neglected, when faithfulness and mutual commitment in family living is more and more under crisis, when possessions and positions mean much more than persons... the message is truly challenging. Today, let us be conscious of every moment when the Lord gives us an opportunity to be God's compassion to others in our own way, beginning from within our families. 

Though little, our compassionate deeds might go a long way in making the day blessed for us and for the others.