Sharing Compassion

One of the greatest joys in life is sharing passion with another – think about it. Now when you thought about it, you thought about people very close to you – spouse, partner, children, very best friend. But when you consider the words we use in English for sharing passion – ‘compassion’ (Latin background), ‘empathy’ (Greek background), we see that the relationships in which we show these feelings reach a far wider group of people – even people we have never met. Compassion and empathy stretch our minds and hearts and school us into making friends with many people in a variety of ways.

During Lent, Australian Catholics support ‘Project Compassion’. This is the fund-raising drive of Caritas, the international relief, development and social service agency. Throughout Lent your children will hear about the people helped by the projects of Caritas. As they hear they will be invited to help these people, not only through fundraising but also through prayer and interest. For you, as parents and carers, it is an opportunity to widen the horizons of their hearts and minds, to teach them to care for people beyond their own circle.

Loving God, we are each and all your children. Give us the wide deep love of your holy Spirit that we may recognise all people as brothers and sisters in Jesus. May we share in his compassionate heart. We ask this in his name confident that you will hear us.