The power of tears

 

In the Gospel today we read that as Jesus comes in sight of the city of Jerusalem, he 'sheds tears over it' because of the inability of its inhabitants to welcome the message of peace. In the Book of the Apocalypse John 'wept bitterly' because there was nobody fit to open the scroll and read it. This is the awareness of the human condition which limits us from that fulness of life which God continually offers to each of us.  Revelation 21: 4 reminds us that ‘God will wipe away every tear’ yet Psalm 80:5 says that the Lord ‘has fed them with the bread of tears and made them to drink tears in large measure.” So which is it? Does God want to console us when we are hurting or does he want to make us cry?  

We cry because we are sad or fed-up. We cry because we are hurt and lonely. We cry because we have been betrayed or disillusioned. We cry because we have regret, we wonder why, how, where, what. We cry because...sometimes we don't even know why we are crying.   If you have ever looked after a baby, you will know the anxiety and stress of trying to figure out why a baby is crying, that is, after you have fed them, changed them, put them for a nap! Sometimes they just want to be held. Similarly, we too want to be held in the embrace of God but are conscious of our sinfulness that seems to keep us distant from him. 

But why did Jesus cry? Because there is power in tears. There is solidarity in tears. Because his love for each person is so great that he couldn't bear that they were blind towards the opportunities which God offered to be close to Him and to be loved by Him and experience his great mercy. Elsewhere in the Scriptures, when Jesus saw his friends Martha and Mary, he was overcome with compassion for them as they suffered the loss of their brother Lazarus. Yet, the tears that flowed may have been also a response to the deep wound of sin which caused death. Death consumed the creation God has created since the time of Adam and Eve. Yes, Jesus wept. Yet in this rollercoaster of emotions, Jesus carries out one of his greatest miracles in raising his good friend Lazarus from the dead. Love always has the final word.

There is another beautiful Scripture verse which speaks of tears and it is an image which I reflect upon often: “You have taken account of my wanderings; put my tears in Your bottle.” (Psalm 56). It's humbling and consoling for us to think that the Lord collects my tears, your tears, that even tears are precious to the Father.

Tears heal the heart and cleanse the soul and bring us closer to God if we allow it. It is interesting that St. Catherine of Siena devoted an entire chapter to the spiritual significance of tears in her great masterpiece, The Dialogue. For her, they express an exquisite, profound sensitivity, a capacity for being moved and for tenderness.  She presents those holy affections as the only proper response to the great love revealed in Christ crucified. These tears move us away from sin and into the very heart of God. She describes this as a journey that begins with kissing the feet of Jesus and entering into his wounded side. For her, intimacy with the Lord is always through the Cross and informed by a profound gratitude and humility. Here I am reminded of the woman who anointed Jesus's feet with the precious nard, washed with her tears and dried them with her hair. Her pain is real but so is her experience of feeling infinitely loved. 

The vulnerability of tears remind us of the need for God and for others to walk with us along the pilgrim way. Life situations may cause us to cry but sometimes we have to let those tears water the seeds of our future happiness. If we come to God with a broken heart, He is the doctor who heals it but also wipes away the tears. Even Charles Dickens reminded us that 'we should never be ashamed of our tears for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts.'  At times, tears are the only bridge for us to reach God. To pass from death to life, from crucifixion to Resurrection. Here I am also reminded of the encounter of Jesus with Mary Magdalene on that day of Resurrection: "Woman, why are you weeping?" The tears of Mary are transformed into an explosion of Paschal joy as she receives the mandate to be a messenger of the Resurrection. 

As we continue on the pilgrim journey, struggling to understand the folly of the Cross, may we weep for those things which make Jesus weep. The reality of the COVID-19 virus, poverty, injustice, terrorism, violence, hatred, evil, anything which makes little of our fellow brothers and sisters. We weep with them, we weep for them. And when tears rush over us, at the most unexpected moments, may we rest in the peace of knowing that our God catches each one, with gentleness and care, as only He can. He knows every tear and He knows what caused it. He collects it and mixes it with the divine tears of his Son. Just as the wine and water are mingled during the Eucharist, so too, our tears, our offering, are mingled and become one with Jesus.

It might be fitting to conclude with the old country song which goes:

Tears Are a Language God Understands

So often you've wondered why

Tears come into your eyes

And burdens seem to be

Much more than you can stand

But God is standing near

He sees each falling tear

Tears are a language God understands

 God sees the tears

Of your broken-hearted soul

I know He sees those tears

And hears them every time they fall

God weeps along with man

And then He takes him by the hand

For they are a language that God understands.