Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (6: 36-38) where Jesus says to His disciples “be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge and you will not be judged yourselves. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned yourselves…because the amount you measure out; is the amount you are given back”.

Fr Paul says that the atmosphere set in this Gospel comes from the very first line, “be compassionate as your Father is compassionate”. The Gospel writer sees compassion as the most notable of God’s qualities and the compassion of Jesus is all true in Luke’s Gospel. Jesus feels and he shares in the misfortune of others; the Widow of Nain, the Good Samaritan, even when Jesus was arrested, he heals the High Priest servant whose ear was cut off.

Finally, on the way to His death, He is compassionate to the daughters, the women of Jerusalem. In short, Jesus would not pass anyone who needed help.

As we begin our second week of our Lenten Journey, Fr Paul says one of the good works we are challenged with is Almsgiving or helping others in need. For our Lent this year and for our reflection today, Fr Paul invites us to ask ourselves this question; “is there anyone I can help and show the compassion of God?”.