Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
The Christian Way: Kindness, Compassion, And Community

The Christian Way: Kindness, Compassion, And Community

Last updated on: January 19, 2025 at 3:12 am by Henry Karlson

0 Comments

The Christian Way: Kindness, Compassion, And Community 2025-01-19T03:12:51-05:00 Henry Karlson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Faris knight: From The Monastery Of Saint Macarius The Great / Wikimedia Commons

Compassion and mercy are both qualities which Christians must embrace in their lives if they are going to be faithful to the call Christ has given them. Christians should be kind and caring, taking into consideration the needs of others, whether or not they are Christians. With their fellow Christians, they are expected to form a bond of love, to come together and live in harmony with each other, presenting to the world the love of Christ through the love they share with one another. When they don’t do any of this, when they are unkind, cruel, merciless, and ignore the way of love, they are to be corrected, in as sound and prudential means as possible.

To be a Christian, is to take on the mantle of Christ, to become a part of him and his body, and in doing so, to share in his loving service to the world. Paul knew this, which is why he not only would admonish those Christians who continued to embrace grave sins, grave injustices, he encouraged the rest of the faithful to do likewise. Christians, in their duty to each other, must share with each other the way of Christ, teaching each other through word and deed what is expected for all of them. Only in this way can they properly come together to offer their love and thanksgiving to God:

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God (Col. 3:12-16 RSV).

There are many ways we can do this. Each have their value and their place. What is important is we do it with humble love, making sure that we do not become prideful in the process. St. Isaac the Syrian used the actions of St. Macarius the Great as an example of how a Christian, full of grace, full of spiritual insight, full of love, should help others:

But as for me, I will not neglect the saying concerning Saint Macarius the Great, which was recorded as a censure of those who despise their brethren. Once he went to visit a certain brother who was sick. When Saint Macarius asked the brother if there were anything he wanted, he replied that he wanted a little freshly baked bread. He said this because all the monks of that place had then the custom of baking bread once a year, at most. Straightway, therefore, that man worthy of blessedness stood up, and though he was ninety years of age, he walked from Scete to Alexandria forty miles and more with dried bread laid up in his cloak, and he exchanged it and brought to the sick man that which he besought. [1]

Macarius went out of his way to help a sick brother, a brother who wanted to eat fresh bread; no one else would help the sick man, indeed, it is likely many of the monks would have thought it was a foolish request. Nonetheless, Macarius, a very old man, showed everyone else what they could and should be doing – serving those in need, even if it is a fellow monk. Just because the sick man was a monk did not mean he could not and should not at times enjoy the good things in life, especially when doing so would also do him some good (as fresh food would likely help him recover faster than old, dry bread).

Another Macarius, St. Macarius of Alexandra, shows us that when we follow the path of love, we can and should show compassion to all living things. Humanity is made to be stewards of creation, looking after and caring for all of it and not just their own kind:

According to one story about the desert monks, a hyena once brought Macarius of Alexandria a blind pup. Following the example of Jesus, Macarius put spittle in the pup’s eyes, and the pup was healed. The mother returned the next day with the hide of a large sheep as a gift. Macarius was upset and made the hyena promise never again to kill sheep or any other creature but only to eat animals already dead. He offered to feed her if she did not find enough carrion. The hyena took the old man’s advice and continued to return to him for food. The story illustrates that the desert ascetics were concerned not only with befriending wild animals but also with reducing the amount of suffering among them (Bratton, 1988:38-40).[2]

Being kind and considerate, therefore, are qualities Christians should embrace throughout their lives . Yes, there will be times they will need to be strict, as when they deal with grave injustices, but even then, they should be as charitable and compassionate as possible. Those who denounce the “church of nice” denounce the spirit of kindness and charity which Scripture consistently calls Christians to follow. Of course, Christians are to embrace many virtues and harmonize them together; being “kind” and “nice” without prudence so as to ignore injustice in the world ultimately undermines the point of such compassion, because such injustices will end up hurting everyone. That is why, though being kind and considerate is important, we must do so embracing all the virtues, not just some, lest by engaging any of the virtues in an extreme fashion, we end up undermining them all.

[1] Saint Isaac the Syrian, The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian. Trans. Monks of the Holy Transfiguration Monastery. Rev. 2nd ed (Boston, MA: Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 2011), 530 [Homily 76].

[2] Stephen H. Webb, On God and Dogs (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 31.

Stay in touch! Like A Little Bit of Nothing on Facebook.
If you liked what you read, please consider sharing it with your friends and family!

N.B.: While I read comments to moderate them, I rarely respond to them. If I don’t respond to your comment directly, don’t assume I am unthankful for it. I appreciate it. But I want readers to feel free to ask questions, and hopefully, dialogue with each other. I have shared what I wanted to say, though some responses will get a brief reply by me, or, if I find it interesting and something I can engage fully, as the foundation for another post. I have had many posts inspired or improved upon thanks to my readers.

General Christian

Previous Post

January 17, 2025

Wisdom From Abba Antony For His Feast Day

Next Post

January 20, 2025 My Country Tis a Thee

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Gosh, did that hit the spot. I have been having great anxiety lately. And I ..."

Mark Wilson

Rejecting Doom: Christian Hope And Human ..."

"Justice and peace are two sides of the same coin. Where there is justice, there ..."

Dr.Cajetan Coelho

Justice First, Charity Beyond It: Serving ..."

"Thank you for your very, very powerful and very, very insightful analysis of the relationship ..."

alwayspuzzled

Justice First, Charity Beyond It: Serving ..."

"Given the amount of lethal malevolence that has prevailed in human history for the past ..."

alwayspuzzled

We Must Value Our Health

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Abraham abuse Aesthetics AI Aliens Ambrose Ancestors and Everything Andrew Angels Animals Anne Anthony Antisemitism apologetics Apophatic Apostle John Aquinas Artificial Intelligence Asanga Ascension Asceticism Assumption Atheism Attachment Augustine Authority Avarice Balthasar Baptism Beauty Biden birthright citizenship Bishops Black History Books Buddhism Bulgakov Byzantine Calendar C.S. Lewis Calcidius Catholic Catholicism Catholicism Celibacy Charity Chastity children Chrismation Christ Christmas Christology Church Climate Change Common Good Communion Confession Confirmation Conscience Constantine conventions conversion councils Covid Creation Cross Dead Death Death Penalty Debate Deception Demagogues Demons Desert Monks Desert Mothers Desire destruction development Dialogue Dignity Dionsyius Dionysius Discipline Diversity Division Doctor Who doctrine dogma Dormition Dualism Easter Easter Series Ecumenical Councils Ecumenism Education Election Empathy Environment Error Eschatology eschaton Eternity Ethics Eucharist Evangelism Eve Evil evolution Faeries Faith Fear femininity Ficino Florence Florensky Folktale Fools Forgiveness Freedom Future gender Gentile Gentiles Glory Gnostic God gods Good Samaritan Goodness Gospel Government Grace Great Fast Guns Hate healing Health Heaven Hell Hellenism Heresy Hierarchy Hildegard Hinduism History Holiness Holy Spirit Holy Week Hope Horror Human rights humanity Humility hypocrisy ICE icon icons Identification Identity Idol II Nicea Immigration incarnation Individualism Informal Reflections Inklings Intention Inter-Religious Interfaith Internet Interpretation Intrinsic evil Irenaeus Islam Israel Jacob Jerome Jesus Jews John Chrysostom John of Damascus John the Baptist Joseph Judaism justice Justification kenosis Kindnesss Kingdom of God Kingdom of Heaven Law Law of Moses Lazarus Leaf by Niggle Lent Lenten Reflection Liberation Theology Lies Life Listen Literature Liturgy locutions Logic Logos Love Marriage Martyrs Mary Mass Maximos The Confessor Meanness Meditation Mercy Middle Path Migrants Mind Miracles Miriam Morals Moses Movies Music Muslims Myths Names Nationalism Native Americans New Year Nicea Nicholas Nothing Novatian Obedience Occam's Razor Ordination Origen Original Sin Orthodox orthopraxis Pagans Palamas Palm Sunday Paradise Paschaltide Paul Peace Pentecost person Peter piety PKD Plato pluralism Plurality Poem Poetry Poiltics Politics Poor Pope Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV Post Office Prayer Pride Pro-life Prodigal Son propaganda Prophecy Prophets Providence Putin Racism Reading Reason Reflection Refugees Relationships Religion Religion Series Religious Liberty Repent Republicans Rest Resurrection Rich Rites Russia Sacraments Saints Salvation Salvian Santa Science Scripture Self-Giving Sexuality Sibyl Sick Silence Sin Singlehood Social Justice Society Sodom Solovyov Speculations Spiritual Reflection St. Cyril of Alexandria St. Justin Martyr Suffering Sunday of the Paralytic Man Sunday of the Samaritan Woman Superhero Supreme Court Teaching Technology Thanksgiving The Father the Universe Theological Reflection Theology Theosis Theotokos Thomas Timaeus Time Tolerenace Tolkien Tradition Transfiguration Trinity Trump Truth Uncategorized Unity Universities USCCB Value Vatican II Vegetarian Vices Violence Virtue Vocations War Water Welcome Wisdom Womanhood Women Work World View Worship Writing Zacchaeus

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz