Pope
Francis, in one of his speeches, said that the “father of lies is able to usurp
noble words.”[1]
So do men. Moved by personal and
selfish agenda, we—yes, we --- sometimes
appropriate noble words to somehow suit our own interests. Words like honor, truth, justice and freedom;
brotherhood, community and country.
In the Philippines, one of the most usurped word
of late is “malasakit”, the Filipino
word for “compassion”. It must be
because it is election season, when candidates could not afford to be branded
as indifferent, cruel, even inhuman. Malasakit is the most sought after value.
It is the brand to beat.
But what really is malasakit? What is genuine compassion?
This was where I was led to reflecting this Holy Week.
I found one of the most beautiful descriptions and
discussions of “compassion” in the book given to me by Marivi Dalman, a sister
in CFC titled: “Compassion” written by Henri J. M.
Nouwen, Donald P. McNeill and Douglas A. Morrison (1983). It is a 1983 book. But it is fresh and new as
it seeks inspiration from the Letter of Paul to the Philippians, the same
epistle where CFC lifts its theme this year. And it speaks about compassion,
the same theme that is celebrated by the whole Christendom in this year of mercy.
Allow me to share some excerpts:
“The word compassion is derived from the Latin words pati and cum, which together mean ‘to suffer with’.
Compassion asks us
to go where it hurts, to enter into places of pain, to share in brokenness,
fear, confusion and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in
misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears.
Compassion requires
us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with
the powerless.
Compassion means
full immersion in the condition of being human. When we look at compassion this
way, it becomes clear that something more is involved than a general kindness
or tenderness…..”
In practical terms, the authors describe compassion this way---
“When do we receive real comfort and consolation?
Is it when someone teaches us how to
think or act? Is it when we receive
advice about where to go or what to do? Is
it when we hear words of reassurance and hope? Sometimes, perhaps.
But what really count is that in moments of
pain and suffering someone stays with us. More important than any particular
action or word of advice is the simple presence of someone who cares.
When someone says to us in the midst of a
crisis, “I do not know what to say or
what to do, but I want you to realize that I am with you, that I will not leave
you alone,” we have a friend through whom we can find consolation and
comfort.
In a time so filled with methods and
techniques designed to change people, to influence their behavior and to make
them do new things and think new thoughts, we had lost the simple but difficult
gift of being present to each other.
We have lost this gift because we have been
led to believe that presence must be useful. We say, “Why should I visit this person? I can’t do anything anyway. I don’t
even have anything to say. Of what use can I be?’ Meanwhile, we have
forgotten that it is often in ‘useless’, unpretentious, humble presence to each
other that we feel consolation and comfort.
Simply being with someone is difficult because
it asks of us that we share in the other’s vulnerability, enter with him or her
into the experience of weakness and powerlessness, become part of uncertainty,
and give up control and self-determination. And still, whenever this happens,
new strength and new hope is born.
Those who offer us comfort and consolation by
being and staying with us in moments of illness, mental anguish, or spiritual
darkness often grow as close to us as those with us by willingly entering the
dark, uncharted spaces of our lives. For this reason, they are the ones who
bring new hope and help us discover new directions.
These reflections offer only a glimpse of what
we mean when we say that God is a God-with-us, a God who came to share our
lives in solidarity. It does not mean that God solves our problems, shows us
the way out of the confusion, or offers answers for our many questions. God
might do all of that, but the solidarity of God consists in the fact that God
is willing to enter with us into our problems, confusions and questions.
That is the good news of God’s taking on human
flesh.”
While
reading these, one cannot but recall Pope Francis’ impromptu homily in Tacloban
last year, when Pope Francis reawakened in us as a nation what true compassion and
Who Compassion is. Addressing the thousands people sobbing and
grieving in the rains, the Pope said:
“I’d like to tell you
something close to my heart. When I saw from Rome that catastrophe, I had to be
here. And on those very days I decided to come here. I am here to be with you –
a little bit late, but I’m here.
I have come to tell you that Jesus is Lord. And he never lets us
down….So many of you have lost everything. I don’t know what to say to you. But
the Lord does know what to say to you. Some of you have lost part of your
families. All I can do is keep silence and walk with you all with my silent
heart. Many of you have asked the Lord – why lord? And to each of you, to your
heart, Christ responds with his heart from the cross. I have no more words for
you. Let us look to Christ. He is the Lord. He understands us because he
underwent all the trials that we, that you, have experienced…”
From the relative comforts of Rome to the travails of Tacloban, just to
say “I don’t know what to say ”
to a desolate people crying for inspiration and searching for direction – that was
compassion personified. The genuine malasakit or more accurately, “pagpapakasakit.”
It is in this context that I remember Monsignor Allen Aganon in last
year’s Mission Core Advent Recollection, speaking to the leaders of Couples for
Christ about mercy and compassion, and exhorting them to be “missionaries of
perfection”. He said that mercy and
compassion is very difficult; it journeys actually, to perfection.
Indeed. The grace of being compassionate is something received.
It is not appropriated for oneself, as to do so is like usurping a noble word.
We can humbly start the “journey to compassion” through simple
and little ways. Like comforting our own child and spouse, as we all have done,
while spending time with them and staying and journeying with them, during this
Lenten break.
Or by exerting to do what we have all been long asked to since
July, 2014, when we first heard of the Philippines being a “a nation of mercy
and compassion” through the CBCP Pastoral Exhortation, gently reminding and tenderly
telling us:
“We encourage you our dear people to resolve to make an act of
mercy every day.
You can reach out to a lonely stranger. You can tell the story
of Jesus to a child eager to understand and feel the love of God. You can
advise a confused co-worker. You can forgive someone who has wronged you.
You can give food to a hungry beggar. You can contribute to
building homes for the typhoon victims. You can visit those in jail or prison.
You can visit the charity ward of hospitals, drug rehabilitation centers, homes
for the elderly and orphanages. You can condole with the grieving families whose
loved ones just died. You can give alms to the poor.
You can show mercy by making it a habit to say “please”, “thank
you” or a kind word of appreciation. Refraining from cursing and using hurting
words is an act of mercy. Being polite to the children and infants, to the sick
and the elderly are great acts of mercy.
… we are asked to have more access to the Sacrament of
Reconciliation and encourage our priests to increase their availability and
visibility at the confessional, and turn earnestly to fervent participation in
the Eucharistic sacrifice and even spend more time in Eucharistic adoration and
to zealously be involved in making our Basic Ecclesial Communities and other
faith-communities as venues for mercy and reconciliation. Let us prepare to see
the Pope by reviving personal and family prayer. Pope Francis has challenged us
to restore family prayer and devotion in our homes.
All of this opens to, nourishes, and sustains in our lives the
gift of Mercy from the Heart of Jesus!...”
With all these, we live out Philippians 4:-4-7, our very theme as Couples
for Christ this year.
“Rejoice in the
Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is
near. Have no anxiety at
all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your
requests known to God. Then the peace of God
that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus.”
We have been commanded not only to rejoice, pray and give
thanks, but also to “Let your kindness be known to all.” (Phil 4:5)
This
is our mandate. And so we seek the grace to struggle and journey to be persons
of compassion and missionaries of perfection, the appropriate descriptive word
for whom is “mapagmalasakit” or "mapagpakasakit" (merciful
and compassionate).
May
God bless us all.
March 27,
2016
7:34 AM
