Compassion

Recently, we lost a bit of the spirits of Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when Msgr. James P. Daly, a West Philadelphia pastor, died at age 93. His spirit embodied the power of compassion, and showed me the impact just one person can have on those who lose their way, are lost by our society, or are finding their way to prosperity. In the mid-1980s, I was a naive young guy from Cherry Hill who had yet to be exposed to real poverty. Working in public relations for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, I met Father Daly when the CBS Morning News produced a story on the dwindling number of Catholic priests.

The Inquirer has failed to understand the essence of R. Budd Dwyer's suicide. Your Jan. 23 editorial was more concerned with condemning the act than trying to perceive the turmoil undoubtedly going on in his mind. How presumptuous to say he just gave up. Your judgmental view suggests The Inquirer is not as liberal as it pretends to be. There was no compassion. William F. Morris 3d Swarthmore.

A year ago, in his inaugural address, Gov. Corbett gave ample warning that his administration would engage in draconian funding cuts. He spoke of how Pennsylvanians needed "a government that has the courage to find fiscal strength in restraint" and that "finds a way to live within its means. " But that's not all he said. "We need . . . a government that shows compassion for those most in need and recognizes its citizens' great investment, a government that must yield them a hopeful, realistic return.

AS AN animal-lover, I found it funny that people were sending Michael Vick football jerseys to the Humane Society so that dogs could use them to defecate on. It made me reflect on going to the vet with my girlfriend to get physical checkups for our cats. I saw how the other animal-lovers were often caring, considerate and tolerant people. It made me realize that pets often act like their owners. The way the owners treat their pets usually is the same way they treat other people, and, from what I saw, these animal lovers were truly humane.

LIKE MANY, I was disgusted when I saw the video footage of slaughterhouse workers stomping on chickens and slamming them into walls at the plant in West Virginia. But I was even more disgusted when I read a Daily News article that included comments from West Virginia prosecutor Lucas See, who said, "From where I stand, I don't think it's torture at this time. It looks as though that was the quickest method they had available to them to kill the birds. " If we can't define stomping an animal to death as "torture," what is?

It's been 17 years since Peggy Donnolly's daughter was murdered. They have been difficult years for Donnelly. Years filled with sadness, overwhelmed by grief and tinged with fear. But the edge on Donnolly's pain has been softened by one man - 24th District Police Officer Michael Burns. Burns, Donnelly said yesterday, stood by her side, checking in, lending a hand and never failing her. "I had talked to him quite a few times and he calmed me down," she said. "He's really been very, very nice.

NFL luminaries, fans and family gathered in Green Bay on Saturday to remember Packers great Ray Nitschke, whose violent tackles became a signature of the Vince Lombardi teams that won five NFL titles in the 1960s. Some 1,250 people packed the auditorium-like sanctuary of Bayside Christian Fellowship church for an emotional memorial service punctuated by occasional laughter and applause. Nitschke's teammates and relatives recalled him as a consummate athlete, loving father and caring, generous man. "There will be a lot of people that will play middle linebacker for Green Bay and in the National Football League," said former Packers defensive end Willie Davis, a teammate of Nitschke.

The horrors of Hurricane Katrina have touched a deep chord in Philadelphia. The city government responded by announcing "Project Brotherly Love," which offered housing and services for up to 1,000 families left homeless by the hurricane. Meanwhile, thousands of ordinary Philadelphians have contributed to relief funds and sent supplies to victims. Such gestures of compassion represent the best of our city's citizens. They make us proud to be Philadelphians. But the local outpouring of support also raises some important issues for us to wrestle with.

Bob Dole removed his tie for a day but now regularly puts it on. Is he doing the same with the tie that binds him to a false definition of compassion? The Oxford English Dictionary defines compassion mainly as "suffering together with another, participation in suffering. " A compassionate person works directly with the needy. Passing a billion-dollar bill that provides housing or fights drugs is not necessarily a mark of compassion. But the word is used as a mantra by Democrats who want voters to remain "unshaken in liberalism's belief in government," as the Washington Post put it. When Republicans use the word, however, three styles are evident: On the Republican left, Sen. Alfonse D'Amato has claimed that his party needs to show more compassion by spending more money on education and welfare.

The New Republic By Lionel Shriver Harper. 373 pp. $26.99   As a prefatory note from the author makes clear, Lionel Shriver's new novel, The New Republic , is not so much a new novel as a 14-year-old novel whose publication time has come. Originally completed in 1998, it suffered from both Shriver's poor sales record (as she reports - I am not carping here) and then, perhaps more important, from being a farcical take on international terrorism.

THERE MIGHT not be many jokes in the Bible, but all those fortunate enough to have studied religion at Villanova University under Donald Robert "Dutch" Schultz were assured of plenty of laughs. This jovial professor was one of the most popular teachers at the university, revered for his rich sense of humor and knowledge of his subject. Dutch Schultz died of cancer Feb. 15, at age 84, in Cornville, Ariz., where he and his wife, Juanita Quigley Schultz, had been living since he retired in 1991.

My friend Susan, having just relocated from New York, joined the school dance committee in order to meet new parents at her daughter's school. Eager to help, she made a suggestion about decorations at a meeting. What she got back from the parent sitting across from her was a roll of the eyes and a surly: "Um, aren't you new here?" "It felt like junior high all over again," Susan told me later. "I felt humiliated and angry, and yet it was over nothing. Part of me wanted to say: 'Are you kidding me?

A year ago, in his inaugural address, Gov. Corbett gave ample warning that his administration would engage in draconian funding cuts. He spoke of how Pennsylvanians needed "a government that has the courage to find fiscal strength in restraint" and that "finds a way to live within its means. " But that's not all he said. "We need . . . a government that shows compassion for those most in need and recognizes its citizens' great investment, a government that must yield them a hopeful, realistic return.

Two years after the earthquake that shattered its buildings and soul, Haiti has grown sick of compassion. Citizens, nations, and charities responded quickly after the Jan. 12, 2010, quake that claimed 250,000 lives and left more than a million homeless. Nongovernmental aid organizations rushed in with medical supplies, food and water, and tents. Their trucks and tents still crowd the landscape. And that's become a problem. "The humanitarian response was so appreciated that few could have predicted, two years later, the long and deep thread of anger toward NGOs that now runs through Haitian society," wrote Marjorie Valbrun, a Haitian American journalist who published an extensive report for the Center for Public Integrity's iWatch News.

J.J. McDermott ran and threw for first-quarter touchdowns, and Southern Methodist beat Pittsburgh, 28-6, in the Compass Bowl in Birmingham, Ala., on Saturday. Rishaad Wimbley ran for two scores for SMU (8-5). Pittsburgh (6-7) was held without a first down and fell behind, 21-0, in the first quarter. The Panthers were coached by defensive coordinator Keith Patterson, who took over after Todd Graham left for Arizona State. North Dakota State quarterback Brock Jensen made the most of the big plays on special teams and defense, and the Bison (14-1)

BEGINNING a few days after the 9/11 attacks, the New York Times began publishing "Portraits of Grief," short profiles of those who were missing and presumed lost. They are heartrending stories, still available online ( www.nytimes.com ), of young fathers who never came home from the office, of a woman who told her fiance a few days earlier she was the "luckiest woman alive," of a couple who had met in the office where they worked, of their families' only consolation that they may have died in each other's arms.

I USUALLY don't choke on my breakfast. But one morning this week, enjoying a creme donut and a full-fat latte, I came close to needing the Heimlich maneuver. It happened when one of those overly perky TV ladies opined that the city's flash-mob problem was directly connected to cuts in social services for at-risk teens. I've actually been very good during the debt-ceiling debates. Despite a slight but ever-increasing rise in my blood pressure over the last few weeks, I've been able to tune out most of the "tea partiers are terrorists" rhetoric and keep my eye on the fiscal prize: no default, no new taxes, limited but crucial cuts in spending.

RE CHRISTINE Flowers' op-ed about homelessness: I am a chaplain at a psychiatric hospital in South Jersey and am also a retired military veteran. I also serve as a chaplain in Camden at the Trauma Hospital. I see homelessness and mental illness up close and personal every day. She sees them as an "annoyance," and I see them as God's lost children. One out of every four homeless adult males are military vets, and most homeless people suffer from some form of mental illness, drug addiction or traumatic stress syndrome.

ATLANTA - The public-address system at Turner Field wasn't too clear and most of the early arrivals probably weren't paying a lot of attention when various dignitaries from baseball's Civil Rights Weekend ceremonies were being introduced on the field before the Phillies-Braves game. But when noted musician Carlos Santana, winner of the Beacon of Change Award, stepped to the podium, his parting shot rang out loud and clear. "The people of Atlanta should be ashamed of themselves," he said before going back to his seat.