“I have compassion on the crowd. . . ” These words of Jesus in our gospel should not be passed over quickly, but meditated upon. For they reveal to us not just Jesus’ motivation in healing those who were lame, maimed, blind and dumb and feeding those who were hungry two thousand years ago, but they reveal to us the very heart of our God – how he responds to us at every moment. Although seeing how sin has crippled and disfigured us, how it has weakened and impoverished us, God has not regarded us with loathing and disgust but with pity born of love. God has not stood aloof from our suffering and pain, but has come to bring us healing, to nourish us and raise us up to the fullness of life. It is this compassion that we celebrate at Christmas. God takes upon himself our very flesh in order that he might also take upon himself that which afflicts us the most and is our greatest burden. It’s amazing if one thinks about it. Christ was born in order that he might die, and that through his death we might have life. It is this compassion that we experience and receive every time we participate in the Eucharist. We come before him as the crowds in the gospel, confident that when he sees our need he will heal us and nourish us with his love. ~ anonymous
