Homily: November 3, 2023, Friday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time (Compassion)

 "Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?"

Have you ever fallen into a cistern before? I doubt many, or any of us have. But I am sure many of us may have fallen into desperate and depressing situations before, we know how agonizing every moment is and how badly we need someone to just pull us out of that situation, immediately, urgently, as soon as possible.

Jesus knows. He understands. He feels for us. Thus, He is compassionate, He wants to save everyone out of the dumps as soon as He can. He does not wait for a better day, nor a better moment. To Him, ‘now’ is the best time, and Sabbath is ideal, because it is a Holy day, a day to give glory to God, a day to do what God does, to save, to heal, to restore, to give life.

The Pharisees did not understand. They could not empathize; they had no compassion. They were very legalistic and applied the laws to others, but not to their own family or their own animals. There was no mercy for anyone else, even if the people were in desperate situations.

That is why Jesus called them ‘hypocrites’.

Do we understand God’s mercy and Jesus’ compassion to all? Or do we think it should be selective only to those whom we consider worthy?

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Martin de Porres. During his lifetime, he showed the same unconditional love and compassion to everyone, like Jesus did. He himself suffered insults, discrimination and humiliation for being an illegitimate child of a Spanish noble and a Native American freed slave. Some of his fellow brothers in the religious order of the Dominican convent of the Rosary despised him and laughed at him.

Throughout most of his life in the community, he did simple chores in the infirmary, cared for the sick and helped the poor. Many miraculous healings were attributed to him. He was known for his selfless love and dedication to serve the needs of everyone, regardless of their wealth and status. He treated wealthy Spanish nobles and African slaves equally.

Let us follow Jesus, in the same way his beloved Saint Martin de Porres did, imitating Him in loving everyone unconditionally and being compassionate to others in need, any time, any day, in whatever circumstances they are in. Amen.


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