TEARS
Pope Francis Sometimes We Need Tears / Learn to Weep
Pope Francis
"Sometimes in our life,
tears are the glasses to see Jesus," said Pope Francis. And it was in fact with her weeping, then, that Mary Magdalene transmitted this message: "I have seen the Lord." The grief of this woman, whose life was changed by her personal encounter with Jesus, is the grief of us all, in our "darkest moments." Hence it is right, the Pope said, to ask ourselves: "Have we had that goodness of tears that prepare our eyes to look at, to see the Lord?" One can weep for many reasons, he continued: "out of goodness, for our sins, for graces, out of joy" and, like Magdalene, we can also ask the Lord for the "beautiful grace" of tears to prepare ourselves to see Him. To see the Lord, does not mean to perceive Him with our sight but "within our heart," explained the Holy Father. Only in this way can we give the witness of our life: "I live this way because I have seen the Lord." -
"We are a society that has forgotten the experience of weeping, of "suffering with": the globalization of indifference has taken from us the ability to weep! In the Gospel we have heard the cry, the plea, the great lament: "Rachel weeping for her children . . . because they are no more." Herod sowed death in order to defend his own well-being, his own soap bubble. And this continues to repeat itself. Let us ask the Lord to wipe out [whatever attitude] of Herod remains in our hears; let us ask the Lord for the grace to weep over our indifference, to weep over the cruelty in the world, in ourselves, and even in those who anonymously make socio-economic decisions that open the way to tragedies like this. "Who has wept?" Who in today’s world has wept?" Pope Francis, Homily, Lampedusa, July 8, 2013
Blessed are those
who mourn
Pope Francis, General Audience, Feb 12, 2020. Excerpt
- the value of compunction.
"Mourning" The desert fathers called it “an inner pain that opens up to a
relationship with the Lord and with one’s neighbour; a renewed relationship
with the Lord and with one’s neighbour”.
Mourning can have two aspects: “for death or for the suffering of someone”
and “tears shed over sin – for our own sin, when the heart bleeds for the
pain of having offended God and one’s neighbour.”
It is “a question of loving the other in such a way that we are bound to him
or her until we share his or her pain … it is important that others make a
breach in our hearts.”
“Can one love in a cold way? Can one love by function, by duty? Certainly
not. There are the afflicted to console, but sometimes there are also the
consoled to afflict, to awaken, who have a heart of stone and have forgotten
how to weep. It is also necessary to reawaken people who do not know how to
be moved by the pain of others.”
Mourning can “open one’s eyes to life and to the sacred and irreplaceable
value of each person, and at that moment one realizes how short time is”.
Turning to weeping over sin, Francis said that it is not anger at having
made a mistake, which he called pride.
“Instead there are those who mourn the evil done, the good omitted, the
betrayal of the relationship with God. This is mourning for not having
loved, which springs from having the life of others at heart. Here one weeps
because one does not correspond to the Lord Who loves us so much, and we are
saddened by the thought of the good not done; this is the meaning of sin.
They say, 'I have wounded the one I love', and it pains them to tears. God
be blessed if these tears come!”
It is “difficult but vital” to face one's own errors.
“Let us think of the weeping of Saint Peter, which leads him to a new and
far truer love: they are tears which purify, which renew. Peter looked to
Jesus and wept: his heart was renewed.”
Pope Francis contrasted St. Peter with Judas, “who did not accept that he
had made a mistake and, poor man, took his own life.”
“Understanding sin is a gift from God, it is the work of the Holy Spirit.
We, by ourselves, are unable to understand sin. It is a grace we must ask
for … This is a very great gift and after we have understood this, there
comes the grief of repentance.”
The pope referred to St. Ephrem the Syrian's saying that “a face washed with
tears is unspeakably beautiful.”
“The beauty of penitence, the beauty of tears, the beauty of contrition,”
the pope exclaimed.
“Christian life finds its best expression in mercy. Wise and blessed is he
who welcomes the pain linked to love, because he will receive the
consolation of the Holy Spirit which God always forgives, even the worst
sins, always is the tenderness of God Who forgives and corrects.”
“God always forgives: let us never forget this.. The problem is in us, that
we tire of asking for forgiveness, we become wrapped up in ourselves and we
do not ask for forgiveness. This is the problem; but He is there to
forgive.”
Tears of Mary, John Paul II
Jesus' dialogue with Ven. Conchita, Holy Hours, pg. 109-115
"Today, My child, I come to ask you for your tears .... I want them, My beloved child, to calm My thirst."
Jesus, Jesus of my soul! What are You saying? What have I heard? Your tenderness is inconceivable, Beloved Master of my heart. But what do You want them for, if You are the very essence of them, that is, the font from which they spring, my whole life? ... My tears are not like those pearls that spring from Your eyes, and I am ashamed to offer them up to You.
"In a mystical sense I understand this, My child ... and if they spring only out of love or of pain, believe Me, they will soothe the thirst of My Heart which is looking for tenderness ... it burns with the desire for crucified souls."
"And where would I look for this except within the souls that are prepared to burn in love and in sacrifice? ... Have you traced your conduct on silent, patient, and resigned sacrifice? Have you offered Me your suffering, smiling and abandoning yourself to My Will? ... If you have shed some tears, have they been born of My love, or of humble and self-denied sorrow? What do you answer Me? My kindness, child, permits sorrows for your good ... , and if your tears are my comfort ... if they sweeten My bitterness, will you complain about the causes that brought them about, forming with them, moreover, an immortal crown that you will soon wear?
"If this is so, it is certain that you do not love Me, or that your love for One who loves you so much is very weak ... for He Who has wept so much to purchase graces for you ... for Him Who still cries because of your limited perfection and your ingratitude! What do you say? What do you respond? What do you promise Me in these moments during which, with My eyes drenched in tears, I remind you of My tenderness ... My favors ... My blood ... and My love?"
"There are two kinds of tears, My child. Some are of no value and the others are pearls for Me, which I collect in this golden chalice that I hold in My hands and which My children must fill."
"There are some tears that are merely external, and come only from the eyes and there are deeply internal tears from the heart, that are brought forth sometimes by love, or sometimes by sorrow. These tears of the soul are of blood, and they are pleasing to Me."
"Tears from the eyes, child, spring forth for a thousand reasons that have no merit for Me. These spring from natural tenderness and are worthless if they are not sacrificed or sanctified for Me ... sometimes they spring forth because of human compassion ... or by sentimentality ... caused by the gentle temperament of particular persons; these have no value for heaven."
"Those that the sorrow of contrition bring forth are precious, and I gather them in this chalice. Those that spring forth from humiliation, secretly ... from ingratitude suffered in silence ... from the effort of self-denial, those My child, quench My thirst, and draw souls near to My Heart."
"The tears of a saintly love, legitimate and resigned, obtain graces."
"Which of these are your tears, child of My Heart? Which are you going to give Me today to dry those that My eyes shed? Do you not wish to drench your own heart with them so as to soften it ... melt it ... make it worthy of being My comfort, sacrificing it to Me?"
"I do not want words anymore, My child, but action - evident and obvious proof of your progress in virtue... your advances in the denial of worldly things ... of the sacrifice of your self-will ... of your training in mortification, through love. Is not the abundance of the grace that I send from heaven enough to oblige you to strive more and more for perfection? ... Is it too much to ask for fruit from the many graces of favor with which I endow each soul?"
"0 child, child of My Heart! It is not right that My eyes shed tears among My children! ... Will you allow My eyes to be blurred by tears today without drying them with your tenderness and your purpose of amendment?"
"There are other tears forced by cruel abandonment and distressing desolation ... which console My Heart if they are patient."
"There are still others that well up from the weight of the sins of other people, and those tightly unite your soul to Me through love."
"Others are very precious and delight Me; these are the tears that spring from the heart upon contemplating My Passion, My charity, My internal sorrow."
"Finally, there are still others that are squeezed out by gratitude and by the zeal or longing for the glory of God, which I spilled out in torrents for the realization of the Redemption, for the thirst of suffering; and these are priceless, My child, and only in heaven will their worth be known, and if there were room for envy, it would be only in order to present Me with these most precious pearls that the angels set upon My crown."
"These are the tears that must fill this chalice ... those that will quench the thirst of your Jesus, making Me smile."
"These are the tears that I cannot find in the world ... the ones I am looking for. .. those which must exist among souls that truly love Me ... tears of gratitude toward Me, to Whom they owe so much tears burst forth from the zeal of My Glory … tears because of the souls that are lost ... tears of love from a thirst for more suffering just to console Me! Amen."
O Jesus, Jesus my beloved Jesus! You, crying among Your beloved children? You, not feeling happy in Your Sanctuary? Your eyes dimmed with tears among Your children? 0 no, never, Jesus of my heart! Here I am to wipe Your tears with my own tears of love and of pain.
I love You, Lord, I love You in the midst of my tears .... I love You in suffering, in a very intimate and unequaled way, in Your very martyrdom .... I love You crucified, and if You would crush me or tear me to pieces, I would love You all the more, Life of my life!
I love You, Jesus, in humiliation and darkness .... I love You in the agony of helplessness .... Lord, if You place me at the bottom of an abyss, I would still love You from that abyss; and if You put me in heaven, I would love You from heaven .... This is how Your children love You.
I love You, I love YOU! Without even pretending that You pay attention to me. …. It is an essential need of my life to love You. … You are my breath, Jesus, my respiration, my own heart.
Do not cry any longer, my Dear One, here are my eyes and my whole soul to do it for You .... With Your grace I will fill that golden chalice, and day by day, weeping shall soak my heart for those who offend You ... for those who are lost, for the devouring hunger of seeing You loved ... for the eagerness of sacrifices, for the delirium of crucifixion and of martyrdom for Your glory.
Holiest Virgin, my beloved Mother, Queen of the Martyrs, crucify my heart together with your own heart at the foot of the Cross, and mix my tears with your own tears. Amen.
MY SOUL CRIES WITHOUT CEASING
Lourdes Pinto, 8/28/12
My soul cries without ceasing. My cup over flows with My tears. My beloved children are being lost for all eternity. As a mother laments for her dead child, I weep for My dead children, dead in sin. I need you, My faithful remnant, to save them from Satan's deception. I need you, My holy remnant, to suffer and cry with Me so that the mercy of God, our Father, can save them. You are My Body. My eyes must pierce the darkness through your eyes. My hands must heal the multitudes through your hands. My feet must travel to the ends of the world proclaiming My message of love and mercy through you. My Words of ever lasting life must be spoken through your lips. The fire of My Sacred Heart must spread through your hearts that are consumed in the passionate fire of love in Me. Raise up, My little one, My victims of love for the new Evangelization to begin.
