Let’s face it, Pope Francis gave us something of a fright recently when he was unexpectedly admitted to hospital. We weren’t even quite sure why he was there until the Vatican announced he was suffering from a case of acute bronchitis.
Many of us forget he’s 86 years old, with all the heath issues it’s normal to associate with someone his age. So there was no guarantee he would make it out in time to preside over the solemn celebrations of Holy Week. But three days later, there he was, on his way back to the Vatican in his little white car, reminding us he was, in his own words, “still alive”! And that’s not all. He made sure to stop and greet people waiting outside the hospital – and, especially, to bless and console a couple who had just lost their child.
POPE FRANCIS
To be able to have compassion: this is the key. This is our key. If you don´t feel compassion toward a person in need, if your heart is not moved, it means that something is wrong. Let us be careful. Let us not be carried away by selfish insensitivity. If you did Latin at school, like I did, you may remember that the word “compassion” comes from “cum passio” – meaning “to suffer with”.
It’s not some wishy-washy sentiment. It’s actually feeling what the other person is going through. The exact opposite of what the Pope calls “selfish insensitivity”.
Compassion can also be expressed, quite simply, by listening. Just like Pope Francis did a few weeks ago when he visited a Rome parish and decided he would listen to parishioners in the confessional. Like an ordinary parish priest.
POPE FRANCIS
Forgive everything. Let people say what they have to say. And you listen to it like Jesus with the warmth of your expression, and with the silence of your understanding. Please: the Sacrament of Confession is not meant to be torture, but to give peace.
One of the most moving ceremonies of Holy Thursday is the washing of the feet during the Mass of the Last Supper. It’s a ritual that recalls Jesus’ gesture of washing the feet of his disciples as a sign of service. Despite having to use a wheelchair and walk with the help of cane, Pope Francis insisted on repeating that gesture by washing the feet of 12 young men and women – all of them inmates at a juvenile prison near Rome.
POPE FRANCIS
Each one of us can say: if only the Pope knew what is inside me.... Jesus knows it and loves us as we are. And he washes the feet of all of us. Jesus is not afraid of our weaknesses.
He made sure everyone understood the symbolism of the gesture by telling the young people how the washing of the feet reminds us we are all called to help one another. This too is a form of “compassion”. And when we put it into practice, life – said Pope Francis – is more beautiful.
SPL
