Sunday Gospel Reflection, June 14, 2026: Jesus' heart was moved with pity for them...

Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them….
How is God’s infinite compassion active in your life? 

    God’s patient compassion for humankind is extraordinary. In the Book of Exodus, while Israel is encamped in front of Mount Sinai, Moses goes up the mountain to God, who proposes to establish a bond between himself and the people: If you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people. God has cared for the people of Israel constantly, bringing them out of Egypt, bearing them up on eagle wings, that they might become a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. In no other faith tradition of the time was there established this kind of relationship in which God is bound to the people as they are bound to God. We are his people: the sheep of his flock, Psalm 100 proclaims, he made us; his we are! God’s compassion toward his people is evident in his infinite kindness and faithfulness, forever! 

    Jesus’ compassion for humankind is likewise extraordinary. In Matthew’s Gospel, seeing people who are troubled and abandoned, Jesus’ heart is moved with pity, and he addresses their needs. Then Jesus sends out his disciples to be his presence in the world, to reveal him to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The disciples are sent out to take eternity to the world, to gather the lost sheep back to the God of infinite compassion, restoring them to relationship with their Lord. That restoration, Paul tells the Romans, finds its fullness in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Thus we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son. We can’t effect reconciliation, but God can and does, in an extraordinary and ongoing way; we can but participate in that forgiveness that is already active, and celebrate it! 

    The compassion of God is extraordinary, beyond our ability to comprehend, yet it is revealed again and again and again every time we open ourselves to it. That infinite compassion is meant to work in our lives as well, recreating us as a kingdom of priests, sent out to bring the promise of eternal life to all the world! 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture Class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com