A man sheds a tear.
“Jesus wept.”
In today’s gospel, we are moved by the grief of Jesus at the death of his friend, Lazarus.
Pope Francis has written powerfully on what this moment when Jesus weeps means for us, in what some have named his ‘theology of tears’. He believes that Jesus' tears encourage us to open ourselves to compassion for others:
“Certain realities in life we only see through eyes that are cleansed through our tears,” Pope Francis asserts. “The tears of Jesus serve as an antidote to my indifference before the suffering of my brothers and sisters. His tears teach me to make my own the pain of others, to share in the discouragement and sufferings of those experiencing painful situations.”
There is sadly much to weep over in our broken world: environmental destruction, injustice, exploitation, oppression, violence and suffering.
In these last weeks of Lent, let’s pray for the grace to be truly moved by the suffering of our world. As we join Jesus who weeps with us in love, may we grieve with those suffering in our world. And may this deep compassion move us to action, to seek to build a better world for all God’s children.
Lent prayer
Compassionate God,
when our hearts are heavy with sorrow,
as we see all that is wrong in our world,
sustain our hope and strength.
Make us agents of your healing and new life.
Amen.
Act
Join us in turning to Jesus, trusting that his compassion will wipe the tears from our eyes and strengthen us in reaching out to others.