Compassion

The Thirst of God

Too often we mistake religion for an insurance policy by which we are somehow guaranteed success, health and a productive life. Three parables in particular reveal that a healthy and holy spirituality is founded on the compassionate mercy of God: The accounts of the (1) Prodigal Son, (2) the Samaritan Woman, and the (3) Good Samaritan serve to remind us that God comes to those who are worn out, broken and who feel inadequate to the tasks of life. These three parables remind us that God loves us completely, even in our deepest need. A spirituality based on the tender love of God delivers us from that inner treadmill where no matter how hard we run we seem to get nowhere and only exhaust ourselves.

©2014 J. Brian Bransfield (P)2014 Pious Society of St. Paul