Friday, February 19, 2010
Week 1: Jesus Cries With Us
To me it's reassuring to know that Jesus weeps with us. I often get caught up on the fact that Jesus is divine and I forget His human side. This short passage from John is a good reminder that He was fully human as well. He was moved to compassion by the suffering and sorrows of Mary who had lost her brother, Lazarus. In our extended family, we've had a lost. Throughout college I lost my aunt, uncle, and both grandparents on my Mom's side and our family experienced a lot of grief. It is a comfort to be to know that throughout all of that loss, Jesus was right their with our family. I'd like to lift up some special prayers today for Aunt Jane, Uncle Billy, Nanny, and Poppy!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think that it is reasuring that Jesus can relate to us because he was human. I have realized through just these first three days that I can tell God everything that I have trouble with. First of all because he came down to earth and experienced what we experience and second because he has done much greater things than we will ever do and he has been in more pain than we will ever be in. One thing I got out of DCYC was that God wants you to tell Him everything. He wants you to cry to Him or to shout at Him and express your feelings. Thats what a relationship does sometimes, it wavers. God doesn't want you to show Him all that you have that is good, He actually wants you to show Him your brokeness. I think it is pretty cool that God is so great that He can fix anything (according to His will, which is not always ours) that we ask of Him.
ReplyDeleteIt's always hard for me to imagine Jesus crying. A lot of times when I find myself wanting to cry it's because I'm feeling sorry for myself, which I know Jesus never did. However, I remember being overcome with grief after the death of somebody that I wasn't even that close with. I kept trying to tell myself that he was in a better place and that I should be happy for him, but I couldn't get over my sadness. I guess this is how Jesus was feeling when Lazarus died. He felt Mary's sorrow and feelings of loss because he was a friend of Lazarus too. For me, it's different to see Jesus crying along with me. Not only does He comfort me and tell me that everything is going to be okay, but He understands and (literally) feels my pain.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of my recent experience at DCYC. Right before adoration, I was coming back from the restroom (tmi) and saw a group of teenagers crying hysterically. I kept walking at first, but something really tugged at my heart. I noticed one adult was there with about 8-10 kids who were all emotional and so I just whispered to her "is there anything I can do for you?" She responded that she didn't know them or what was going on, but was just trying to provide comfort. I turned to the least visibly upset person (later I found out he was a brother of one of the girls and was just standing by b/c he was worried about her) and asked can you tell me anything, I'd like to pray for ya'll. He responded that their best friend had just killed himself and they blamed themselves for it. The skit triggered all these emotions b/c it showed the conflict of sin so vividly and they regretted not saving him. I just started praying. Pretty soon other people joined me and I could feel the teenagers relaxing and being overcome with God's peace. Fr. Brian approached us with the Blessed Sacrament and prayed a beautiful prayer. I really got it that night that Jesus wants to take our pain from us. He certainly was present with those teens that night, crying with them and sending His holy spirit to guide me and others in comforting them. I pray for that group that in the days ahead filled with sorrow and despair that they would come to experience God's peace - that passes all understanding - and rest in His loving arms.
ReplyDelete