Compassion means feeling deeply for someone in trouble to the extent that one is moved to try to help that person.  Compassion, therefore, is a practical thing.  In the Gospels we see this over and over again.  How often do we read that Our Lord had compassion both on individuals who needed help and on the crowds who followed him, as sheep without a shepherd.

The same quality comes out in the teaching of Jesus, as for example in the Parable of the Good Samaritan who had compassion on the injured traveller and went to him and tended his wounds and took care of him.

An important part of Christian discipleship is to be concerned with the seven corporal works of mercy which the medieval Church drew up for her members to perform.  These acts of compassion are derived from Our Lord’s Parable of the Judgement in which people are accepted or rejected by him according to whether or not they have performed them.  The corporal works of mercy are so called because they relate to the wellbeing of people’s bodies but it is plain that they have a positive impact on the whole person – mind and spirit, as well as body.  The seven corporal works of mercy are to: