In the Gospel from Mark for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jesus is approached by a leper who is seeking his healing touch. The Gospel tells us that Jesus was "moved with pity" in response to the leper's request for healing. The word, "pity", doesn't really come close to approximating what the Gospel writer originally intended to convey about Jesus' emotional reaction. The Greek word that describes Jesus' reaction is splagchnizomai, which can be interpreted as, compassion. The word compassion means a deep sympathy for the suffering of another along with the desire to alleviate it.
If we compare the words "pity" and "compassion" as they are used in our culture, the difference between the two words becomes even more apparent. To pity a person implies not merely a sensitivity to the plight of another but a corresponding awareness of being in a position that is less pitiable. In other words, to pity another is, in a sense, to look down upon them or their situation from a better place. No matter how good the intentions of the one who feels pity, it speaks to an attitude or orientation that is fundamentally condescending. Let's contrast this with the attitude of compassion. Compassion, as a "deep sympathy" implies being "with" another in their sorrow, suffering, or, pitiable situation. Compassion is an orientation of solidarity in the sense that it recognizes in the other a struggle, suffering, and, even, a misery that is part and parcel of the human condition. Far from being condescending, the emotion, attitude, and virtue of compassion means "descending" to be with another in all that they are experiencing and being for another in seeking to alleviate the source of their misery.
What made the suffering and misery of the leper so acute and unbearable was undoubtedly the isolation and loneliness that dogged him like his own shadow. Fewer things make suffering and misery worse than the experience of being isolated, alone, and cut-off from others. This is as much the case with those who suffer now as it was in Jesus' time. The healing touch that Christ extended to the leper wasn't from above him, but was from beside him. True to his mission and mandate from God and the Holy Spirit, in healing the leper (and countless others), Jesus bears witness to the fact that he came to be the very compassion of God, to be with us and to be for us. Yet to allow God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit to be a source of healing compassion and solidarity, we must likewise "descend" to those forelorn, broken, and, even, miserable places within our lives and in the lives of others. In so doing, we will experience that, far from being alone, we have never known such intimacy, connection, communion, and, ultimately, healing.
