An image that came to me most powerfully recently was the image of Jesus crying. We find several instances of Jesus crying in the Gospels. Jesus looked at the city of Jerusalem and wept:”O Jerusalem, Jerusalem how often I would have gathered you as a mother hen gathers her chicks, but you would not have me.” (Luke 19:41) He wept over his friend Lazarus’ death and the pain that death brought to Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha. (John 11:35). He wept at Judas’ betrayal: “Judas, do you betray me with a kiss, a kiss of friendship?” (Luke 22:48).
There is no doubt that he continues to weep over our world where hundreds of thousands of people are on the move, fleeing from war, destruction and death; where little children are abused and starved and will grow up without ever having experienced a safe and secure childhood; where bombs rain down daily on innocent populations, destroying their homes and massacring their loved ones. Surely, Jesus weeps. Do we weep? How can we not? As we see the terrible images on our television screens and read harrowing accounts in the newspapers, we cry out: “What can we do?” Jesus’ answer to the young man in the Gospel, who asked that same question was “Go sell what you have, give to the poor and come follow me.” (Matthew 19:21). What do we need to “sell” in order to follow Jesus and build communion among ourselves and among those around us? What have we to let go off to stop the violence?
We can do little to stop the bombs raining down on innocent populations but by following Jesus and modelling our lives on his, we can stop the violence that can creep into our own hearts. We can put an end to the small but hurtful ways that we can cause pain to one another. We can make a commitment to refuse to add to the suffering that is
already in our world. This we can do. The image of Jesus weeping reminds us that He loves each one of us. He suffers when we betray our call to live and promote communion; when we fail to “practice the joyful giving of ourselves, unconditional acceptance, attentiveness, dialogue, forgiveness and genuine relationships” (Ana Maria’s letter: February 2016).
Perhaps if we contemplate the weeping Jesus, we will turn away from all that is destroying communion among us. May Jesus’ tears melt our hearts and move us to be more merciful to ourselves and to each other. If we contemplate the weeping Jesus, we can change during and we can rise with Jesus to a new way of life, with a renewed commitment to live “as visible and prophetic witnesses of God’s mercy in the Church and world contexts in which we live” (Ana Maria’s letter).
Gemma (Unit leader Britain & Ireland)