A Reflection for Tuesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Find today’s readings here.
When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, “Do not weep.”
Most parenting books these days advise parents against telling their children to stop crying. Instead, parents are instructed to calmly acknowledge a child’s big emotions with phrases like, “I see you’re upset,” or “This must be hard for you.” I see value in this approach and I would never want to dismiss my child’s emotions. But I also see why it might be hard to muster such sympathy while, say, one’s child screams in the shoe aisle of a Target. Sometimes you have to just pick up your kid and head to the car.
And so I was struck by Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel. A mother’s son has just died. And Jesus says: “Do not weep.” On the surface, it feels almost cruel. Why shouldn’t a woman whose son has just died be allowed to shed tears? But Jesus sees the bigger picture, and the language that describes him in this passage gives us further context. We are told that “the Lord saw her” and “he was moved with pity for her.” An entire roller coaster of emotion is encompassed in these phrases. Jesus does not simply notice the woman or acknowledge the woman, but he truly sees her. He allows her suffering into his heart and is moved. He becomes present to her and, like any parent when seeing a hurt, wants to relieve her of her pain, to fix things so there is no reason to cry. And because Jesus is God, he can do this in powerful and miraculous ways.
Jesus is telling the mother to stop weeping, not because he is dismissing her pain, but because he is so moved by it. And because he knows he can do something about it. Arise he says to the dead son. And the son is brought back to life. But this command also prompts a reaction from those who witness this miracle. The people feel fear and wonder and begin to share this good news.
It is so easy to despair these days, whether thinking about personal struggles or politics. Often, we feel as though there is nothing we can do, but in this Gospel Jesus reminds us that although we might be upset and things might be hard for us, Jesus remains present to us. He wills good for us. We can turn to Jesus with our feelings of hopelessness. And like any good parent, he acknowledges our pain. And then he says, get up, let’s get going, we have work to do. Arise.
