Empathy is necessary but not sufficient. If empathy becomes something like "I know how you feel", then it's just another manifestation of your ego. Compassion needs an emotion, and here I disagree with you. This emotion for me is love, without which nothing would be possible. We may be semantic, but what's important is to practice kindness, forget our ego and try to make this world a better place than how we found it. JMHO :-)
I would say that love is not a feeling at all but an action. If love is a feeling it means it is limited by circumstance which may be okay for 'romantic love' but is that real love?
Interesting point of view and I think I understood your trail of thoughts @tarazkp. I would say that there's a way to reconcile feelings to action and it is by considering that from the feeling and the thinking comes the action. We are what we do, but prior to that our future actions live inside us. On the contrary, if we "feel" without translating this into action, we remain empty and vain (and I think here's your criticism to empathy as opposed to compassion). In another perspective, from a dirty mind cannot intentionally come a good deed. I'm simplifying for the sake of giving the idea. About my idea of love, as per my comment, it's very pragmatic and concrete and not so romantic (I'm for authenticity).