Clergy Reflection: Tuesday Of The Sixth Week

Tuesday of the Sixth Week

“Jesus Wept” “There is not a shorter verse in the Bible, nor a larger text.” ~John Donne

So long ago, the priest and poet John Donne expressed what we instinctively feel when we read the Lazarus story: how amazing that Christ would cry over His dead friend. Sometimes we mistakenly may think of Jesus as ethereal or untouchable. Though true God, He was also true man, experiencing everything we do: deep love, friendship, the pain of loss. Jesus wept just as we do when we lose our friends, parents, grandparents and even children. On that day, too, perhaps Jesus also wept for us—His tears a well-spring of hope, anticipating the joyful raising of Lazarus. As Holy Week approaches, we take comfort in this “larger text” of His weeping: the great, compas- sionate and saving heart of our Lord. Through His miraculous tears, we also may be raised. Fr. Alex Chetsas