Sympathy and Empathy

Today’s First Reading to the Hebrews tells of the Son of God who is able to “sympathize with our weaknesses.” Such empathy is often found with saints who have worked with children, such as Saint John Bosco. Similarly, the foundress of the Sisters of Notre Dame had a great love for poor and neglected children. The annals of the Sisters of Notre Dame relate a time when Sister Maria Aloysia Wolbring was playing organ in the country church in Landeck, Ohio. She noticed a little girl shivering from the cold. Sister invited her to sit beside her on the organ bench, where she spread her habit over the girl’s legs. The incident occurred several years after our foundress decided to teach and house hungry orphans in Germany. The whole life of Sister Maria Aloysia seemed to be one of empathy. May we Sisters continue in her footsteps and in the footsteps of Jesus Christ who always sympathizes with us.