{"id":4027,"date":"2016-01-18T08:00:18","date_gmt":"2016-01-18T16:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/?p=4027"},"modified":"2016-01-17T22:02:28","modified_gmt":"2016-01-18T06:02:28","slug":"lent-a-season-of-compassion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/lent-a-season-of-compassion\/","title":{"rendered":"Lent: A Season of Compassion"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>\u201cTo understand a person, you must first walk a mile in their moccasin.\u201d \u2013 Native American Proverb<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This year the Season of Lent comes \u201cearly\u201d on the secular calendar. It seems as if there is little time between the joyous coming of the Messiah at Christmas, his revelation to the world in Epiphany and his passion, suffering and death recalled in Lent through Holy Week.<\/p>\n<p>While we know the outcome of the \u201cstory\u201d is ultimately a happy one, there is still a great deal of sorrow and pain yet to be experienced. Each year the church relives the life and ministry of Jesus through the liturgical year. We revisit the highs and the lows of Christ\u2019s earthly ministry, endeavoring to re-experience what it must have been like to have Emanuel, the very presence of God, walk among humankind. Why does the church spend so much time, effort and energy each year remembering the events of over two thousand years ago? How do those distant events affect us today? What is the purpose in remembering stories of strange happenings and miraculous occurrences?<\/p>\n<p>There an old Native American proverb, \u201cTo understand a person, you must first walk a mile in their moccasin.\u201d This old wisdom acknowledges that while we may see the trials and tribulations of another human being we cannot truly know and understand until we experience them for ourselves.<\/p>\n<p>When I was in a pastoral care class at the School for Deacons decades ago I remember a discussion we had with the professor. While practicing some reflective counseling, where the counselor repeats back to the counselee what he or she said, the student counselor said to the professor acting as the counselee, \u201cI know how you feel.\u201d The professor, as counselee, began crying and shaking his head said, \u201cDo you? Do you really KNOW how I feel? Can you feel my pain? Do you really know the depth of my sorrow and despair? Have you ever been in my shoes?\u201d The class was speechless. It was obvious the student counselor, by making what seemed to be a benign sympathetic comment, had struck a raw nerve in the psyche of the professor acting as the counselee. Coming out of character, the professor pointed out how dangerous it was to presume to know something as personal and private as someone\u2019s feelings, reminding us of the wisdom of the Native American proverb quoted above.<\/p>\n<p>What does this example have to do with us in the 21<sup>st<\/sup> Century as we approach yet another season of Lent? To some extent, I believe God sent his Son to be Emmanuel, \u201cGod with us\u201d, so that God might be able to understand better how his children \u201cfeel.\u201d To have compassion for creation, God first had to know and feel the experiences of the created. In other words, God needed to walk the Way of the Cross\u2026also known as the Via Dolorosa, the Way of Sorrows\u2026a mile in humankind\u2019s moccasin.<\/p>\n<p>Compassion can be defined as \u201csympathetic concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.\u201d God had compassion for humankind and in doing so sent His only begotten Son to both experience and relieve our sufferings. Lent is a time when we reflect upon God\u2019s compassion for us.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, the vestry signed the Charter for Compassion, a declaration and call to action for all people of faith to express compassion for our sisters and brother throughout the world. While we in the United States are often oblivious to the sufferings and misfortunes of others in remote parts of the world, it is our duty as Christians to be compassionate to those less fortunate that we. I am proud of the parish\u2019s leadership in recognizing the need for compassion and understanding not only within the tri-cities area but also in our own parish. I encourage you to learn more about the Charter for Compassion by either visiting the Charter\u2019s website, www.charterforcompassion.org, or reading Karen Armstrong\u2019s book, <em>Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life<\/em>. Faith Formation is planning a book study group for this book in the Spring of this year. I invite you to participate and help you and your community to grow in compassion and understanding for all God\u2019s children.<\/p>\n<p><em>~The Rev. Kenneth W. Parris, CMC<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cTo understand a person, you must first walk a mile in their moccasin.\u201d \u2013 Native American Proverb This year the Season of Lent comes \u201cearly\u201d on the secular calendar. It seems as if there is little time between the joyous coming of the Messiah at Christmas, his revelation to the world in Epiphany and his&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-window","ctfw-no-image"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Lent: A Season of Compassion - St. James&#039; Episcopal Church Fremont California<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/lent-a-season-of-compassion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lent: A Season of Compassion - St. James&#039; Episcopal Church Fremont California\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cTo understand a person, you must first walk a mile in their moccasin.\u201d \u2013 Native American Proverb This year the Season of Lent comes \u201cearly\u201d on the secular calendar. It seems as if there is little time between the joyous coming of the Messiah at Christmas, his revelation to the world in Epiphany and his&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/lent-a-season-of-compassion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"St. James&#039; Episcopal Church Fremont California\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/StJamesEpiscopalFremontCA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-01-18T16:00:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"St. James&#039;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"St. James&#039;\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/lent-a-season-of-compassion\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/lent-a-season-of-compassion\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"St. James'\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dec30d4c7812b8213c65faff1fc8846b\"},\"headline\":\"Lent: A Season of Compassion\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-18T16:00:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/lent-a-season-of-compassion\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":723,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"The Window\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/lent-a-season-of-compassion\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/lent-a-season-of-compassion\\\/\",\"name\":\"Lent: A Season of Compassion - St. James&#039; Episcopal Church Fremont California\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-18T16:00:18+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/lent-a-season-of-compassion\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/lent-a-season-of-compassion\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/lent-a-season-of-compassion\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lent: A Season of Compassion\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/\",\"name\":\"St. James' Episcopal Church Fremont\",\"description\":\"Thornton Ave &amp; Cabrillo Terrace, Fremont CA\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"St. James' Episcopal Church Fremont\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/logo-star-red.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/logo-star-red.png\",\"width\":624,\"height\":625,\"caption\":\"St. James' Episcopal Church Fremont\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/StJamesEpiscopalFremontCA\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dec30d4c7812b8213c65faff1fc8846b\",\"name\":\"St. James'\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/saintj.com\\\/wp\\\/author\\\/saintj\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lent: A Season of Compassion - St. James&#039; Episcopal Church Fremont California","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/lent-a-season-of-compassion\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lent: A Season of Compassion - St. James&#039; Episcopal Church Fremont California","og_description":"\u201cTo understand a person, you must first walk a mile in their moccasin.\u201d \u2013 Native American Proverb This year the Season of Lent comes \u201cearly\u201d on the secular calendar. It seems as if there is little time between the joyous coming of the Messiah at Christmas, his revelation to the world in Epiphany and his&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/lent-a-season-of-compassion\/","og_site_name":"St. James&#039; Episcopal Church Fremont California","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/StJamesEpiscopalFremontCA","article_published_time":"2016-01-18T16:00:18+00:00","author":"St. James'","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"St. James'","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/lent-a-season-of-compassion\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/lent-a-season-of-compassion\/"},"author":{"name":"St. James'","@id":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/#\/schema\/person\/dec30d4c7812b8213c65faff1fc8846b"},"headline":"Lent: A Season of Compassion","datePublished":"2016-01-18T16:00:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/lent-a-season-of-compassion\/"},"wordCount":723,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/#organization"},"articleSection":["The Window"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/lent-a-season-of-compassion\/","url":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/lent-a-season-of-compassion\/","name":"Lent: A Season of Compassion - St. James&#039; Episcopal Church Fremont California","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-01-18T16:00:18+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/lent-a-season-of-compassion\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/lent-a-season-of-compassion\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/lent-a-season-of-compassion\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lent: A Season of Compassion"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/#website","url":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/","name":"St. James' Episcopal Church Fremont","description":"Thornton Ave &amp; Cabrillo Terrace, Fremont CA","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/#organization","name":"St. James' Episcopal Church Fremont","url":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/logo-star-red.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/logo-star-red.png","width":624,"height":625,"caption":"St. James' Episcopal Church Fremont"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/StJamesEpiscopalFremontCA"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/#\/schema\/person\/dec30d4c7812b8213c65faff1fc8846b","name":"St. James'","url":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/author\/saintj\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4027\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saintj.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}