Tears

Composed by: Sr. Petra Paula

Jesus wept (Jn 11:35).  This is one of the shortest verses in the Bible.  What was happening?  Why would Jesus cry?  Martha and Mary had sent word to Him that their brother Lazarus was dying, but instead of rushing to them immediately, Jesus continued what he was doing.  By the time He arrived, Lazarus had been buried for four days.  The women were wailing, but this was not His response.  Instead, Jesus shed quiet tears.  Lazarus was His good friend and he and his sisters had entertained Jesus at their table, but now he lay in that tomb.  As we know, Jesus used this opportunity to give glory to God and raised Lazarus from the dead.

This is one of those examples where we see that Jesus is truly human.  God does not cry but Jesus felt true human emotions while on earth.  As St. Paul reminds us in Philippians, He “did not consider being equal to God a thing to be clung to, but emptied Himself, taking the nature of a slave and being made like unto men” (2:6-7).  Jesus loved Lazarus, just as He loves all of us.  

On the Via Dolorosa, he told the women of Jerusalem not to weep for Him, but for their children.  We are their children.  We are living in a time of great sinfulness:  We kill babies in the womb and hasten the end of older people whose lives may—or may not—be full of pain.  We are apathetic about the welfare of others in our own communities.  We live in relationships without benefit of marriage because “everyone does it.”  We are removing God from public places because some find Him offensive!  What are we thinking?  Jesus wept for Lazarus and his sisters and He may be weeping for us even now and even more:  for our selfishness, our pettiness, our pride, our lack of love and mercy in our own lives.  

We know from our studies that our dear Father St. Dominic cried for sinners.  An article in Dominicana reminds us how Brother Jordan of Saxony, the second Master of the Order, explained this habit of St. Dominic:

Whilst he thus labored to make his own soul pleasing to God, the fire of divine love was daily more and more enkindled in his breast, and he was consumed with an ardent zeal for the salvation of infidels and sinners. To move the divine mercy to regard them with pity, he spent often whole nights in the church at prayer, watering the steps of the altar with abundance of tears, in which he was heard to sigh and groan before the Father of mercy, in the earnestness and deep affliction of his heart; never ceasing to beg with the greatest ardor, the grace to gain some of those unhappy souls to Christ.

From the Chronicle of the Origin of this Order, compiled by Bl. Jordan of Saxony.
The Tears of Saint Dominic,  by Dominicans of the Province of St. Joseph  August 08, 2014

In Lamentations, we read “Therefore do I weep and my eyes run down with water, because the Comforter, the relief of my soul, is far from me.  My children are desolate because the enemy hath prevailed” (1:16).  And further:  “Yes, and when I cry and entreat, He has shut out my prayer” (3:8).

As for St. Dominic, the article above continues:

When we encounter the tears of our father Dominic, we are confronted with the reality that those who are closed to faith are lacking the possibility of true and lasting friendship with God, a friendship which requires filial trust and a loyal heart.  Saint Dominic was brought to tears at the thought of a soul rejecting such a gift.  In Dominic we see the beauty of a soul transfigured by faith, hope, and love in a state of fervent petition; more, we see a participation in the redemptive mission of Jesus Christ. 

The Tears of Saint Dominic,  by Dominicans of the Province of St. Joseph   August 08, 2014

We may also consider St. Peter, who after denying Christ three separate times, went out and wept bitter tears.  He was one of the strongest of the Apostles and loved Jesus with all his heart, having followed Him and lived with Him and learned from Him directly—and yet, in his fear, in his weakness, he denied his best friend, his Savior.  Imagine his joy when, after the Resurrection, and after three times telling Jesus he loved Him, Peter realized that Jesus had forgiven him!  Not only was he forgiven, but Peter was put in charge of feeding the Lord’s sheep.  

We do have hope.  God does not leave us alone.  In Revelation, when we read about the new heaven and the new earth, John writes about the voice from the throne saying,

Behold the dwelling of God with men, and He will dwell with them.  And they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  And death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away (21:3-4).

Tears are part of our humanity, part of the result of original sin from the fall.  Because they can be cathartic, tears may help to strengthen us, no matter how wrung out we feel from the experience.  It is comforting to have these examples of tears.  It is human to feel weak and lost, but if we trust in God’s love and mercy, eventually we will have peace in our hearts.  If we must continue to cry, so let us beg to follow in St. Dominic’s path and cry for the souls of sinners, including ourselves.  

Image: St. Dominic in Prayer, El Greco, date unknown