2Cor 11:29

“That you bewail and grieve over the downfall of our brethren I know from myself, beloved brethren, who also bewail with you and grieve for each one, and suffer and feel what the blessed apostle said: "Who is weak," said he, "and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? " And again he has laid it down in his epistle, saying, "Whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member rejoice, all the members rejoice with it." I sympathize with you in your suffering and grief, therefore, for our brethren, who, having lapsed and fallen prostrate under the severity of the persecution, have inflicted a like pain on us by their wounds, inasmuch as they tear away part of our bowels with them,-to these the divine mercy is able to bring healing. Yet I do not think that there must be any haste, nor that anything must be done incautiously and immaturely, lest, while peace is grasped at, the divine indignation be more seriously incurred. The blessed martyrs have written to me about certain persons, requesting that their wishes may be examined into. When, as soon as peace is given to us all by the Lord, we shall begin to return to the Church, then the wishes of each one shall be looked into in your presence, and with your judgment.”

“With excessive grief of mind, and not without tears, dearest, brethren, I have read your letter which you wrote to me from the solicitude of your love, concerning the captivity of our brethren and sisters. For who would not grieve at misfortunes of that kind, or who would not consider his brother's grief his own, since the Apostle Paul speaks, saying, "Whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member rejoice, all the members rejoice with it; " and in another place he says, "Who is weak, and I am not weak? " Wherefore now also the captivity of our brethren must be reckoned as our captivity, and the grief of those who are endangered is to be esteemed as our grief, since indeed there is one body of our union; and not love only, but also religion, ought to instigate and strengthen us to redeem the members of the brethren.”

“What wonderful affection in a pastor! Others' falls, he is saying, accentuate my grief, others' obstacles inflame the fire of my suffering. Let all those entrusted with the leadership of rational sheep imitate this and not prove inferior to the shepherd who for many years cares for irrational sheep. In that case no harm ensues even if some negligence occurs, but in our case if only one rational sheep is lost or falls to predators, the loss is extreme; the harm, terrible; the punishment, unspeakable. After all, if our Lord did not forbear to pour out his own blood for him, what excuse would such a person deserve for allowing himself to neglect the one so esteemed by the Lord and not making every effort on his part to care for the sheep?”

“"Who is weak, and I am not weak?" He did not say, 'and I share not in his dejection?' but, 'so am I troubled and disturbed, as though I myself were laboring under that very affection, that very infirmity.' "Who is made to stumble, and I burn not?" See, again, how he places before us the excess of his grief by calling it "burning." 'I am on fire,' 'I am in a flame,' he says, which is surely greater than any thing he has said. For those other things, although violent, yet both pass quickly by, and brought with them that pleasure which is unfading; but this was what afflicted and straightened him, and pierced his mind through and through; the suffering such things for each one of the weak, whosoever he might be. For he did not feel pained for the greater sort only and despise the lesser, but counted even the abject amongst his familiar friends. Wherefore also he said, "who is weak?" whosoever he may be; and as though he were himself the Church throughout the world, so was he distressed for every member.”

“You do not require me to teach you in what sense the apostle says, "To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews," and other such things in the same passage, which are to be ascribed to the compassion of pitying love, not the artifices of intentional deceit. For he that ministers to the sick becomes as if he were sick himself; not, indeed, falsely pretending to be under the fever, but considering, with the mind of one truly sympathizing, what he would wish done for himself if he were in the sick man's place.”

“For the cross is taken up in two ways: either when the body is afflicted through abstinence, or when the mind is troubled through compassion for one's neighbor. Let us hear of the cross of the mind in compassion for one's neighbor. For Paul says: "Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not on fire?" Indeed the perfect preacher, in order to give an example of abstinence, carried the cross in his body. And because he drew upon himself the losses of another's weakness, he carried the cross in his heart.”

“Lest anyone should say that he did care, but cared in an ordinary way, he shows the character of his care. And he did not say: I share in the affliction, but I myself undergo it to the point of exhaustion. By exhaustion, understand both bodily and especially spiritual exhaustion. The word "who" should be understood as meaning: whether it be an important or an insignificant person.”

“Then, how he expressed the excess of grief, for "I am inflamed," he says. Enduring everything else, he rejoiced, knowing that he endures for the Lord's sake; but here he is wounded in soul, so that the stumbling of another, even of an insignificant and rejected person, causes him great grief. And that the word "I am inflamed" must be understood in the sense of "I am caused to stumble," David teaches us. For just as the apostle said, "who is caused to stumble, for whom I would not be inflamed?" — so too David says exactly the same: when someone stumbles, I also appear as one who stumbles, and I strive to heal this sickness as my own. But where does David say this? In the words: "when the ungodly is proud, the poor is afflicted" (Ps. 9:23), that is, the poor person is caused to stumble when he comes to the thought that unworthy people abound in wealth and are exalted.”

“The second affliction he suffered concerned the failings of his subjects, and this he does in two ways, namely for spiritual failings; hence he says, Who is weak, namely, in faith and in goodness, and I am not weak? In heart, grieving over them as though over myself? "To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak" (1 Cor. 9:22); "O that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!" (Jer. 9:1). And for bodily failings; hence he says, Who is made to fall with the evil of punishment, i.e., who suffers afflictions, and I am not indignant with the fire of compassion? This is the fire which the Lord came to cast upon the earth (Lk. 12:49). And notice that he fittingly uses the word, "on fire", because compassion proceeds from the love of God and neighbor, which is a consuming fire, because it moves one to alleviate the misfortunes of one's neighbor, and it cleanses the soul with the compassion it engenders. Furthermore, our sins are loosed, while the charity of that compassion covers a multitude of sins. For a person sometimes falls into sin of himself, and then he is weakened; sometimes by the example of others, and then he is scandalized: "Woe to the man by whom the temptation comes!" (Matt. 18:7).”

“Paul is saying that he suffers in sympathy with everybody and that he shares their pain in order to provide medicine for the wound. He presses the point in order to show how carefully he is guarding and ruling the church entrusted to him. In this way he shows that he should not be considered inferior to the other apostles, seeing that he labored more than all of them.”

“This is also comely and helpful to the servants of God, because they act according to the injunctions of our Lord, who has said: "I was sick, and you visited Me, and so on." And this is comely and right and just, that we visit our neighbours for the sake of God with all seemliness of manner and purity of behaviour; as the Apostle has said: "Who is sick, and I am not sick? Who is offended, and I am not offended?" [2 Corinthians 11:29] But all these things are spoken in reference to the love with which a man should love his neighbour. And in these things let us occupy ourselves, without giving offence, and let us not do anything with partiality or for the shaming of others, but let us love the poor as the servants of God, and especially let us visit them. For this is comely before God and before men, that we should remember the poor, and be lovers of the brethren and of strangers, for the sake of God and for the sake of those who believe in God.”