Every day, we’re confronted with suffering that can leave us feeling powerless—unless glimpses of humanity break through. Sometimes, these moments of grace arrive in unexpected ways, like through a WhatsApp message. That’s what happened in a small Italian town committed to the principle of unity: “There’s a young foreign man at the hospital where I work. He’s completely alone and dying. Maybe someone could spend a few minutes with him, just to bring a little dignity to the situation?”The call was like a jolt. Replies poured in quickly. One person later reported: “At his bedside, we saw right away that the care he received was precise, attentive, and loving. There was nothing we could do, really—just to be there. He was already in a coma, unable to know we were present.” but he could benefit our presence "Was it pointless? Not at all. In just a few hours, a small community—inside and beyond the hospital—surrounded him with presence and meaning. Who knows if a mother in his home country will mourn him. But for those who chose to care, this young man was no longer a stranger. His passing mattered.
True compassion springs from deep within—from the heart. It empowers us to pause our frantic routines and take initiative, offering a caring look and unafraid to “touch” another’s wounds.
Chiara Lubich describes this with striking simplicity: “Imagine yourself in that person’s situation. Treat them as you would want to be treated if roles were reversed. Is he hungry? I’m hungry—so I feed him. Is he suffering injustice? Then I’m suffering it too—so I comfort him and share his pain. I won’t rest until he is uplifted and enlightened. Slowly, we’ll see the world around us begin to change.”[1].
African wisdom echoes this mindset. A proverb from Côte d'Ivoire reminds us: “Whoever welcomes a stranger, welcomes a messenger.”.
This idea holds the key to a deeper humanism—one that recognizes our shared humanity and the inherent dignity of every person. It calls us to courageously move beyond notions of physical or cultural closeness, widening the circle of “us” until it embraces “everyone.” In doing so, we rediscover the foundation of society itself. And when suffering overwhelms, it’s crucial to care for ourselves with help from friends who walk the path beside us. Psychiatrist Roberto Almada puts it clearly: “If the good ones abandon the fight out of exhaustion, our shared humanity faces its greatest threat: the erosion of values.”[2].