When did you last cry? What were the tears for? - Daily Reflections November 20,2014

BITTER TEARS, NOT!

 

I am definitely what those who really know me say that I am — a cry baby. My tear ducts are shallow and, when touched, my tears flow readily and copiously. That was what happened when early last year, I saw the cinematic version of the musical Les Miserables. But a similar thing happened when I saw the live coverage of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI taking leave of the Vatican on February 28, 2013. It was pretty much the same when, at 2 a.m., Manila time of March 14 last year, the white smoke almost suddenly changed the mood of the vast throngs that waited patiently for the election of the new pope.

       Today’s Gospel is not exactly my favorite passage, but it is definitely one that resonates with me and one that I feel so at home in. I don’t have to ask why the Lord cried (the word in Greek is even stronger!). I am not bothered by my own tears and definitely not those of other people. I just take them as they are — expressions of deep feelings — and feelings are what make us human to the core. I am consoled that my Lord and my God, being truly human, is one who is like me in all things, except sin.

       But truth to tell, my feelings, though not wrong in themselves, can be shallow. Being a counselor, I know that they can be “projections” onto others of my inner state or my unresolved issues. They stand for me and for my own selfish needs, possibly unmet, which then are tantamount to “losses,” that I feel compelled from within to grieve over.

       There is nothing selfish and self-serving, though, in Jesus’ tears. They all have to do with selfless love — for the city and its people — on account of the impending doom that would befall them. There is nothing there but compassion for a people who would come to grief, all because they missed the “time of their visitation.” They were tears — not of blame, not of bitter disappointment, but of love.

       I feel good not because the Lord cries, too, but because He cries for love of me and you. Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: When did you last cry? What were the tears for?

 

Lord, thank You for showing us Your humanity. It gives me hope that I can overcome my sinful tendencies and become more like You.