The alternative opening prayer of to-day's Mass addresses God as the one who, out of His power and compassion, sent His Son into our afflicted world. Today's readings certainly highlight the need for a compassionate force in this world. A compassionate person not only feels sympathy or pity for someone in distress, he or she does something to relieve that distress. The word in the original Greek of the New Testament means a feeling in the bowels which were regarded as the seat of our emotions. The Good Samaritan and the Father of the Prodigal Son acted after their feelings were stirred.

While the word "compassion" is not used in the long, long story of Job's tribulations, he did in the end experience a compassionate restoration of health and fortune. In the Reponsorial Psalm we praise God for healing the broken-hearted and binding up their wounds.

In the Gospel Jesus showed a very practical concern for the many who needed a powerful helping hand. Two verses after the end of today's Gospel Jesus is moved to compassion and cures a leper.

What emboldened the suffering men and women of Capernaum and elsewhere to approach Jesus for help? Did they sense a compassionate soul when they saw him pass by? What are the chances that we, too, could be sensed to be compassionate people by those who need compassion?