Clothe Yourselves with Compassion

Explore the biblical witness for the core teaching on God’s mercy and compassion.

Saint Paul rightly grasped that compassion was at the core of everything Jesus taught and did when he directed the Colossians to “Clothe yourselves with compassion” (Col 3:12). In recent decades, mercy has been a central theme in papal teaching from Pope Saint John Paul II to Pope Leo XIV, consistently echoing the insistence of his predecessors on the urgent need for compassion, truth-telling, encounter, dialogue, justice, and respect for the dignity of all. In this book, renowned biblical scholars Leslie Hoppe, OFM, and Barbara Reid, OP, explore the biblical witness for this core teaching on compassion—the prime virtue we must “put on” to bring peace and wellbeing to our communities and to our planet.

Clothe Yourselves with Compassion expands on select passages from both Testaments that unveil compassion in many diverse aspects. By reflecting on these texts, readers not only come to understand that the whole story of God’s relationship with humankind and all creation is driven by compassion but also learn how to accept and live with mercy as the guiding force for their lives.

Leslie J. Hoppe, OFM, is a Franciscan friar of Our Lady of Guadalupe Province and holds a PhD in religion from Northwestern University. He is Carroll Stuhlmueller, CP, distinguished professor emeritus of Old Testament Studies at Catholic Theological Union. He is the author of eighteen books, most recently Zechariah in the Wisdom Commentary series (Liturgical Press, 2024). He served as the general editor of The Bible Today and Catholic Biblical Quarterly. He is past president of the Chicago Society of Biblical Research and the Catholic Biblical Association of America.

Barbara E. Reid, OP, is a Dominican Sister of Grand Rapids, Michigan and holds a PhD in biblical studies from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. She is president emerita and Carroll Stuhlmueller, CP, distinguished professor of New Testament studies at Catholic Theological Union. She is author of more than a dozen books including the two-volume commentary on the Gospel of Luke, co-authored with Shelly Matthews in the Wisdom Commentary series (Liturgical Press, 2021), for which she is also general editor.