Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (6: 36-38) in which Jesus says, ‘do not judge and you will not be judged’.

Fr Paul reminds us of the Gospel we heard from Matthew (5: 43-48) on Saturday about the six standards with the central theme of ‘Love’ running through them and Jesus made that staggering demand to be perfect, just as God is perfect.  He says, if we compare that Gospel with today’s Gospel from Luke, then we can see that Luke thinks compassion is the most notable of God’s qualities; the compassion of Jesus is all throughout Luke’s Gospel.

Fr Paul says, Jesus again, and again, and again, feels for and shares in the misfortune of others.  Basically, Jesus would not pass someone who needed help. Luke is saying compassion is one of the qualities we should live out in our lives just as Jesus did.

As we begin this second week in our Lenten journey, Fr Paul invites us to challenge ourselves with the question ‘How compassionate am I to those around me?’