Advent 12
Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
—1 PETER 3:8-9 (NIV)
Father Greg Boyle of Homeboy Industries wouldn’t like it very much if I called him a living saint (so I’ll just keep it between you and me). He thinks that makes the work he does in the world seem too unattainable for the rest of us to participate in. He works among gang members in Los Angeles to reconnect them to wholeness through the training, employment, and multiple supports that his world-wide rehabilitation program offers. “All we’re asked to do is to be in the world who God is,” wrote Father Boyle. “Certainly compassion was the wallpaper of Jesus’ soul, the contour of his heart, it was who he was. I heard someone say once, ‘Just assume the answer to every question is compassion.’”
It’s a fun game to take Father Boyle’s answer to every question seriously. Like “what’ll we do about so-and-so who’s been driving me crazy?” Answer: Compassion. “How’ll I get through this night with all the worries I’m carrying?” Answer: Compassion. But, like in Jesus’ and Father Boyle’s examples, compassion is not a surface gesture or a Hallmark emotion, but full-bodied empathy with arms and legs. Compassion doesn’t judge, but listens, and then gets busy meeting the need.