CALLED BY COMPASSION, SENT ON MISSION
Homily for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Fr. Ugochukwu Ugwoke, ISch Exodus 19:2-6; Romans 5:6-11; Mark 1:15 One of the most beautiful qualities of Jesus in the Gospels is that He never looks at people with indifference. He notices pain. He sees hidden burdens. He recognizes exhaustion, confusion, spiritual hunger, and loneliness. In today’s Gospel, Matthew tells us that when Jesus saw the crowds, “He was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.” The mission of the Church begins from that compassion. The expression “moved with pity” in the Gospel is very powerful. In the original biblical language, it refers to a deep stirring from within, almost from the gut. Jesus is not merely observing suffering from a distance; He feels it deeply. He sees people wandering without direction, crushed by suffering, weighed down by sin, languishing in captivity, manipulated by false leaders, and spiritually exhausted. In many ways,...
