Jesus has been described as a man of prayer and a man of compassion. This is certainly the way he comes across in the Gospel. Indeed for Jesus prayer and compassion were like twin sisters that could not be separated.
Jesus needed time to be alone. He needed times of quiet, of silence in his life. These times of silence gave him the opportunity to pray, to nourish his relationship with the one whom he called Abba Father. For Jesus times of silence were an experience of solitude. In the silence he was intimate with his Father. Times of silence were so important to Jesus that he was prepared to get up very early in the morning to have them.
Jesus was also a man of compassion. He responded to human need when he found it, in the form he found it. Jesus was deeply aware of the burdens that people were carrying, of the pain, sickness and anxiety in the lives of those he came into contact with. Jesus not only sympathised with people, he also empathised with them. His own humanity enabled him to know the humanity of others. Jesus’ struggle with his own human weakness allowed him to understand what human weakness can do to the lives of others. “For the high priest we have is not incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us, but he has been tempted in exactly the same way as ourselves” (Heb 4:15).
The word connect is used a lot nowadays to describe the benefits of the internet and the mobile phone. In our modern world we certainly have a variety of types of connection. But not all of these bring depth to our relationships. Prayer enabled Jesus to connect with his Father at a deep level. Compassion enabled him to connect with other people at a deep level. The human heart is made for deep connection. We are made for friendship, friendship with God, friendship with other people. Prayer feeds our friendship with God; compassion feeds our friendships with other people. We can learn from the life of Jesus about the importance of prayer and compassion. We can also learn from Jesus not to separate these two beautiful and life-giving sources of connection.