June 2025; That the World Might Grow in Compassion

Pauline Books & Media
May 30
4 min read

Pope's June 2025 intention

Let us pray that each one of us might find consolation in a personal relationship with Jesus, and from his Heart, learn to have compassion for the world.

"Consolation is an interior movement that touches our depths. It is not flashy but soft, delicate, like a drop of water on a sponge (cf. St. Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, 335). The person feels enveloped in God’s presence in a way that always respects his or her own freedom. It is never something out of tune that tries to force our will; neither is it a passing euphoria. On the contrary, as we have seen, even suffering — caused for example by our own sins — can become a reason for consolation."

"Consolation is that type of peace, but not one in which we remain sitting there enjoying it, no…. It gives you peace and draws you toward the Lord and sets you off on a journey to do things, to do good things. In a moment of consolation, when we are consoled, we want to do so much good, always. Instead, when there is a moment of desolation, we feel like closing in on ourselves and doing nothing. Consolation spurs us forward in service to others, society, other people."

Pope Francis

General Audience, 23 Nov 2022

Read here

In the Sacred Heart, every treasure of wisdom and knowledge is hidden. In that divine heart beats God’s infinite love for everyone and for each of us as individuals.

St. Pope John Paul II

Compassion; What is it?

The desire to assist someone who is ill, hungry, or in need is known as compassion. It is the desire to lessen the suffering of others combined with a sympathetic awareness of that suffering. It was derived from the Latin words pati (to suffer) and com (with). It means literally, "to suffer with."

The compassionate Christ

Pope Francis hopes that we are drawn closer to the merciful, compassionate Christ.

"Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy. These words might well sum up the mystery of the Christian faith. Mercy has become living and visible in Jesus of Nazareth, reaching its culmination in him. The Father, “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4), after having revealed his name to Moses as “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ex 34:6), has never ceased to show, in various ways throughout history, his divine nature. In the “fullness of time” (Gal 4:4), when everything had been arranged according to his plan of salvation, he sent his only Son into the world, born of the Virgin Mary, to reveal his love for us in a definitive way. Whoever sees Jesus sees the Father (cf. Jn 14:9). Jesus of Nazareth, by his words, his actions, and his entire person[1] reveals the mercy of God."

Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy

Pope Francis, 11 April 2015

Bull of Indiction; Jubilee of Mercy

Most merciful Heart,

pitying heart, loving heart of my Father and Saviour,

refuse not your help to my needy heart.

St. Margaret Mary

Our missionary calling to help others

"But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbour?" Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever you spend, I will repay you when I come back.' Which one of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbour to the man who fell among the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." And Jesus said to him, " You go, and do likewise."

Luke 10: 29-37

It is compassion that compels us to feel the pain of someone else

and by doing so, we join their journey.

Mother Theresa

Compassion and the miracle of the loaves and the fish

"As soon as one of the Twelve says, realistically, “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish”, Jesus answers, “Bring them here to me” (vv. 17-18). He takes the food in His hands, raises His eyes heavenward, recites the blessing and begins to break it and give the pieces to the disciples to hand out. And those loaves and fish did not run out; there was enough, and plenty left over for thousands of people...

The compassion and tenderness that Jesus showed towards the crowds is not sentimentality, but rather the concrete manifestation of the love that cares for the people’s needs. And we are called to approach the Eucharistic table with these same attitudes of Jesus: compassion for the needs of others, this word that is repeated in the Gospel when Jesus sees a problem, an illness or these people without food… “He had compassion.” “He had compassion”. Compassion is not a purely material feeling; true compassion is patire con [to suffer with], to take others’ sorrows on ourselves. Perhaps it would do us good today to ask ourselves: Do I feel compassion when I read news about war, about hunger, about the pandemic? So many things… Do I feel compassion toward those people? Do I feel compassion toward the people who are near to me? Am I capable of suffering with them, or do I look the other way, or “they can fend for themselves”? Let us not forget this word “compassion,” which is trust in the provident love of the Father, and means courageous sharing."

Pope Francis

Angelus, 2 Aug 2020