A famous movie made back in 1959 was the religious epic Ben Hur, starring the great actor Charlton Heston (with a remake made in 2016). In this fictional story, Judah Ben Hur was a wealthy Jewish prince living in Jerusalem with his mother and sister early in the 1st century. Due to a series of unfortunate circumstances, including betrayal by a lifelong friend, Judah was arrested by the Romans and sent to be a galley slave; his mother and sister were sent to prison, where they eventually contracted leprosy. While being marched in chains through Galilee with other condemned men, Judah—exhausted and almost dying of thirst—was given a cup of water by Jesus of Nazareth; this was some years before Our Lord began His public ministry. For three years Judah was forced, as part of a chain gang, to row a Roman warship commanded by an important Roman commander named Quintus Arrius. The ship was sunk in battle, with only Judah and Arrius surviving. Judah could have let the Roman die, but he saved him—and when they were rescued, a grateful Arrius adopted Judah as a son and restored his princely rank.
Judah Ben Hur eventually returned to Jerusalem, where he learned of a popular rabbi preaching a message of love and forgiveness. While hearing Him speak, Judah was deeply touched by His words. When he encountered the former friend who had betrayed him, Judah had the opportunity to take his revenge, but—for reasons he couldn’t fully understand—he chose not to. Judah then tried to find his mother and sister, not knowing they now lived with other lepers in a cave outside the city, shamed and cut off from society. While looking for them, Judah came across a tragic procession on a Friday afternoon; a man was carrying a cross through the narrow streets on the way to His execution on a hill outside the city. To his surprise, Judah felt great compassion toward the condemned man, and when He staggered and fell under the heavy cross, Judah rushed to help Him stand up. Their eyes met, and Judah again looked at the One Who had given him a cup of water years earlier—a simple act which had taught him the meaning and importance of compassion. His effort to repay the Lord’s kindness was in turn rewarded: Judah’s mother and sister were miraculously healed of their leprosy, and even as the Savior of the world was dying, a broken family was reunited and restored (Rev. Joseph Robinson, Guiding Light, Year B, p. 142). As this fictional story reminds us, Jesus came not to divide us, but to unite us all as children of God—and if we truly desire to be part of His royal family, we’ll prove it by our compassion toward others.
One of the effects of original sin is that we’re easily aroused to jealousy or an “us vs. them” attitude—and when this happens, we lose sight of the big picture: namely, God’s desire that all His children accept and share His saving love. Moses had to make this point to Joshua (Numbers 11:25-29), and Jesus emphasized it to the apostle John in the Gospel of Mark (9:38-43, 45, 47-48). When God’s Spirit is working through someone else, we’re supposed to give thanks, not take offense. What should upset us is to see people exploiting others. St. James (5:1-6) strongly condemns those who become powerful or rich by taking advantage of others or treating them with dishonesty or violence; unless they repent, he warns, a terrible fate awaits them. Jesus offers a similar warning in the Gospel, stating that anyone who leads a fellow believer into sin will be judged severely, and that His disciples must make whatever sacrifices are necessary to remain in a state of grace. Our Lord loves everyone immensely, but there are some things He simply will not tolerate—especially anything that destroys the innocence of a fellow human being. That’s why compassion is so important: it allows us to imitate God’s love for all His children.
In 1979 a married couple, John and Dottie Peckham, were on a cruise from Mexico to Hawaii. On a whim, they put a note in a bottle, along with their home address and a dollar for postage, and tossed it into the Pacific Ocean. Three years and nine thousand miles later, a Vietnamese refuge named Nguyen Van Hoa found it in the South China Sea. He began corresponding with the Peckhams, who were delighted to receive a response—and a few years later, after learning of Hoa’s difficult life and circumstances, they agreed to sponsor him and his family, allowing them to legally enter the United States and begin a new life (James Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, p. 114).
In a similar way, a simple act of kindness on our part can, contrary to all expectations, make a real or even lasting difference in someone else’s life. Every day we are given opportunities to show compassion—perhaps by doing a favor for someone else, lending a helping hand, sharing an encouraging word with someone feeling down or depressed, pretending not to notice when another person makes an embarrassing mistake, spending time with somebody who seems left out or lonely, sending a friendly card or email to an acquaintance going through a difficult time, going the extra mile to be kind to someone who has a knack at irritating or annoying us, making a special effort to be patient with a child or elderly person who constantly seems to need our attention, contributing to a charity whose beneficiaries we’ll never meet in this life, praying for the victims of tragedies reported in the news, and in general treating others the way we wish to be treated.
There are lots of people who could use our assistance or support, but who are too shy or embarrassed to ask, or who don’t want to bother or inconvenience us. As an expression of our unity in Christ, we need to look for them—perhaps by praying every morning, “Holy Spirit, please help me recognize and use all the opportunities that come to me today to serve others in the Name of Jesus.” When we stand before God looking back at our life, we’ll rejoice in all those times we acted with compassion, and we’ll regret all the chances we had to do so but wasted. After that, when we finally make it to Heaven—whether immediately after we die, or, more likely, after some time in purgatory—we will be perfectly and joyfully united with everyone there, truly exulting in our shared membership in the family of God. The time to begin preparing for this glorious unity in Christ is here and now. Jesus promises that our efforts to do this will be rewarded—and His words are truly deserving of all our trust.