The Compassion of Jesus on the Infirm

In an old book of meditations by a Jesuit priest I found this wonderful reflection, particularly relevant to us as members of a hospitaller order.

"And when it was evening, after sunset, they brought to Him all that were ill, and that were possessed with devils.  And all the city was gathered togethered at the door. . . . But He, laying His hands on every one of them, healed them."  Observe here the extreme goodness of our Divine Lord, who let all approach Him without difficulty or ceremony, and who never betrayed the smallest annoyance or impatience, either on account of the lateness of the hour, the pressure of the crowd, or His own weariness.  He might have got rid of the people more quickly by curing them all at once; but He preferred laying His hands on each one of separately, and addressing a few words of consolation to each.  Singulis manus imponens.
 
APPLICATION.  Let us imitate our divine master in this conduct.  It is most edifying to see a religious, a superior, a confrere, always kind-hearted and cheerful, easily accessible to everyone, and forgetting his own sufferings to minister to others.  But this is a degree of perfection quite beyond nature.  Have we striven to acquire it?  and with what success?