Reflection: Blessed are those who weep, for they shall be comforted.

Jean Vanier reminds us that each Beatitude draws us closer to the Heart of Jesus.

We begin to see with our own hearts and minds the humanness of the one who became our Savior. Today, we see the emotional Jesus who was so transparent that he “showed” his vulnerability with tears.

In some cultures, “tears” are a sign of weakness. In the United States, it was considered for many years that men, especially, should not cry. In today’s world, “tears” are one of the characteristics of our humanness that unite us.

 

During the time of the Journey of Jesus, we have read in the Gospels how he wept over Jerusalem and how inconsolable he was when his friend Lazarus died. Often, there was no place to lay his head at the end of the day. Perhaps, he wept tears of yearning for his Mother and the home they shared.

 

The tears of Peter during those days of the Passion of Jesus became uncontrollable when he caught the loving, painful gaze of his beloved Master.

 

We, too, weep. Our lives are touched with the loss of loved ones; with times of rejection;

with times of depression; times of physical pain…etc. We could all make our own list.

However, one must not forget the “happy tears” – times when the heart is overflowing with the love of another; the birth of a baby; the coming home of a loved one who was “lost.” We could all write another list.

 

Pere Thomas, Jean Vanier’s Spiritual Director, reminds us that “tears render our hearts supple, or as it were more tender. If the heart never weeps, it runs the risk of becoming hard.”   Tears that are “trusting” in the comfort that will come from the Holy Spirit who is the Divine Comforter are the tears that become “beatitude.” It is a sign that we are discovering the depth of the heart of Jesus and becoming more like Him.

 

Journal about a time when tears lifted us out of our selfishness to the realization of the grace of the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

  

Dolores Wilson, Dir.

Bethlehem House