I have a confession to make. I cry at movies with happy endings. It’s true – I try to pretend that I have allergies or something – but give me a movie with a powerful, uplifting ending where evil is overcome against all odds (especially by an underdog) and, well, the tap gets turned on.
As a kid I’m sure I cried whenever I was physically hurt and in intense pain, but frankly, when I broke my arm falling off of a horse I shared more colorful words than tears. And when I slit my hand open on a piece of glass and needed stitches I was pretty tough – at least until the old hospital nun stuck it into a pan of surgical soap to clean the wound. At that moment they said they could hear me at the far end of the hospital – on the floor above and below us. And when I broke my foot a year ago – well, it was back to work the next day.
No, I’m far more likely to shed tears for joy than for personal pain.
But there is another time when I am likely to shed tears. Whenever I’m faced with situations where someone else is suffering and I cannot help, especially if that someone is close to me, tears will come. For example, during periods of inconsolable grief when someone cries over the loss of a loved one, I will cry with them. When someone is intense pain – physical or emotional – which brings them to tears, I will cry with them.
When we cannot help alleviate the suffering of another; when we cannot fix the problems another faces; when the scope and magnitude of a problem far exceeds our abilities, or the abilities of those around us, to help – tears will come.
In other words, when we are helpless.
And actually, it should be that way. St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans exhorting them to mutual love (12:15): “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”
When we, or those we love, face trials which bring tears to our eyes and no one else can help, those are the times when we’re dependent upon God.
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes”…
This line from today’s second reading from the Book of Revelation is echoed both elsewhere in Revelation and by this from the Prophet Isaiah: (24:8): “He will destroy death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces…”. It reminds us that we are NOT God, and that we cannot “fix” every, or even most, of the major problems which come our way. But God can. And God is with us through it all.
St. John says in Revelation, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them as their God.”
God doesn’t make our problems go away. St. Paul and St. Barnabas “… strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”
And the hardships, the pain, the tears that we face are the result of our fighting a war with two fronts.
On one hand, we face our earthly battles – personal health issues beyond just the impact of the CoVid pandemic; economic issues affecting our ability to care for our families and ourselves; world conflicts not just in the Ukraine but in other regions of the world which affect family or friends, or other tragic events. Some of the issues we face are personal; others may affect those who are close to us. There are also those which may seem distant and not particularly important to our day-to-day activities but which we are called to face just the same.
But the biggest battles we face are spiritual, against an unseen enemy who uses weapons against which we may not understand how to defend ourselves.
Despite that, we are called to fight. And the most important weapons we need are those which are already at our disposal: the gifts and the graces God has given us; the blessings of the presence of those around us; and most importantly: prayer.
Through our prayers, our abilities that we have received from God, and the relationships we develop with one another, we are well-equipped for the battles we fight. And through Scripture we are reminded that our pain isn’t the final answer.
Elsewhere in Revelation (7:15-17) we see an angel say to St. John in vision about the myriads of people clothed in white before his eyes:
“These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. … For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Today’s Gospel, coming just before Jesus’ own Passion, reminds us that Jesus, too, knew he too would have to suffer, just like we do. He reminds his disciples that there would be a time very soon that they would not “see” him in the same way that they had come to know him for the last three years. And his final, “new” commandment, “Love One Another”, wasn’t a dictatorial statement. In it he gave them the most powerful weapon that he had, one which he shared with his Father – LOVE. It is the one weapon which can be used in all of our battles, on either front – earthly or spiritual.
The hardships in our lives will always be here. But God is also here with us. He dwells with us. The tears won’t necessarily stop, but God will wipe them away – through His Love present in the Holy Spirit, through others He places in our lives; through US. Ultimately, if we remain faithful to God all sorrow and pain will pass away.
The war has already been won.
