By Joseph J. Mazzella

A beautiful, young girl is smiling at me from a picture frame on my desk as I write this.

She is my sponsor child from the Philippines, and even though I have never met her in person, she has found a special place in my heart. It doesn’t cost me much to help her, about a dollar a day. Yet, millions of people in this world live on less. The joy that helping her gives me, however, is beyond price. It connects me to her, to life, to love, and to God.

I can still remember the first time that I decided to help a child overseas. It was many years ago. I was only a teenager myself and for the first time in my life had a little extra money each month. I didn’t feel like buying anything, though. We had lost everything we had in a house fire a few years before and going through that had taught me a lot. I had learned that I didn’t need a lot of “stuff” to be happy. I had also read a lot about the suffering of children in poor countries around the world. It seemed like a far better thing then to give what I could to help them. With my mom’s love and support I soon found a few organizations like Children International that were serving others around the world. It felt so good being able to reach out and help another in need. It felt so good being able to make even one life better. I could feel the compassion and empathy growing within me and beginning to change me.

Empathy does change us.

It makes us into better people with bigger hearts and a clearer view of life. It shows us that we truly are one family on the Earth. It helps us to love, to be kind, and to make this world a better place. It connects us with God and allows the Kingdom of Heaven to live within us.

Let your empathy grow then. Let your love grow. Let your heart grow bigger and bigger every single day. Let yourself grow in heaven while you help others here on earth.