Reflection for 10/30/17

It seems that in today’s world, with all the injustice and the pain and the heartache that we see and experience each day, it is difficult to even believe in a loving God.  People are killing each other daily, robberies and violence are a common occurrence, and discrimination is running rampant.  If God is love, then why is there so much hate?

 

Sometimes, we can fall into the trap of seeing the evil in the world and forgetting about the good.  Just recently, there was a terrible massacre in Las Vegas, and we read in the news numerous stories about the inhumanity of the shooter.  But we also read many stories about people helping each other in the moment.  One man shielded some younger people from bullets because he felt that they had much more of their lives to live.  One young husband gave his life to protect his new bride.  

 

Yes, evil does exist, but so does good.  There are many people out there who are willing to suffer much for the sake of another person.  These people have true compassion for others.  Jesus, in today’s Gospel, gives us an example of the compassion we are called to have for one another.  When Jesus encountered this crippled woman in the synagogue on the Sabbath, he was moved with compassion for her.  He could not simply walk past her and ignore her, but he was moved with conviction.  He laid hands on her and healed her of her eighteen-year ailment.

 

This act of compassion is immediately contrasted with the hardness of the synagogue leader’s heart.  He says, “There are six days when work should be done.  Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.”  He is more willing to care for his ox and his ass than he is to care for his own fellow human being.

 

When we are caught up with thinking about the evil in the world and wondering, “Where is God,” we should ask ourselves the question, “Have I shown others the compassion that I am looking for in the world?”  We must be that force for change.  We must begin to love others as ourselves, we must begin to be convicted in the face of violence and injustice and suffering.  Let us never grow accustomed to the existence of these atrocities in the world, but let us always feel the pain of others and seek to do something about it as Jesus did.