Compassion and Love
Monday in Holy Week
Reflection By Jan Kwiatkowski
I am a child of God. I always carry that with me.
- Maya Angelou
No matter how many times or years I have encountered the Holy Week Scriptures, I continue to find characters I love, don’t understand, admire, or even dislike. One of my first memories of the Holy Week story was the distress I felt when hearing a story about terrible things happening to a really good person. I also remember feeling comforted that there were women close by who were with him to the end, even wiping his face with a cloth. At the same time, I was really angry at Peter when he denied him. He didn’t do anything to help Jesus.
I also remember somehow knowing that, despite everything, God loved everyone in the Holy Week story. And to this day, my experiences as a pastor, therapist, and hospice chaplain has only deepened this belief in every cell of my being. Every person you or I love, don’t understand, admire, or dislike is also a much-loved child of God.
This week, our final week in Lent, we will explore the gifts of compassion and love. Our acts of compassion are one way of reassuring our human brothers and sisters that they are deeply loved. I’ve found that identifying with a character in a scripture story helps me with my practice of compassion. Despite how I feel about their choices and actions within the story’s context, I create a backstory that allows me to give them the benefit of doing the best they could. Transferring that practice to the present, I might tell myself that a driver cut me off because they need to get to the hospital for a family emergency. What might each character in the Holy Week story teach you about practicing compassion with all God’s much-loved children, including yourself?
Making it Personal: I invite you to choose a Holy Week character to focus on as you read, pray, and reflect this week. What drew you to choose this particular person? Is there a character you avoided choosing? Reflect on that.