God wants to embrace you in your sorrows

Good News ReflectionTuesday of the 24th Week in Ordinary TimeSeptember 15, 2009
Today's Memorial: Our Lady of SorrowsA prayer for our sorrows and sufferings as an offering of love:http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Sorrows.htm
For a printer-ready copy of "Your Tears Are Precious to God", which is an alternative reflection for today and is useful in RCIA and in bereavement ministry, please visit Catholic Digital Resources at http://catholicdr.com/calendar/September/sorrows.htm.
Today's Readings:1 Tim 3:1-13Ps 101:1-3, 5-6John 19:25-27 or Luke 2:33-35http://www.usccb.org/nab/091509.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_09_15.mp3
God wants to embrace you in your sorrows
What's the purpose of your tears when you cry? Usually, my tears mean I want something to change and I'm not going to be happy until it does change. But that only results in swollen eyes and messy tissues.
But turn it into a prayer and our sorrow becomes very valuable!
It's healthy to get emotional and pour our sadness into a conversation with God. Our tears are not bullets that shoot our frustrations heavenward in order to force God to hurry up and make things better –¬ even though it can feel that way. In our sorrows, each tear is itself a prayer. When you're tired of using words, just cry.
If tears were not prayer-diamonds, why would our Blessed Mother cry in heaven? Why would she be Our Lady of Sorrows? Isn't heaven a place of joy, where there is no more sorrow? Yet, Mary cries because people are being hurt by sin in the world. She cries for you when you turn away from her Son. She cries with you when you cry because of the sins of others.
Tears shed during prayer time are valuable to God because this is a moment of surrender. We've quit trying to change what we cannot change. We might still want to, but while we're crying we have stopped trying. In that humble surrender, we give God clearance to move in and comfort us.
When the Father heard his Son's prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane, he didn't change what Jesus would have to endure, but he did comfort him. He embraced his Son with tender compassion and sympathy. He sent angels to him for additional support. This gave Jesus the strength to choose obedience and say, "Your will be done, not mine" and to endure his sufferings.
Jesus knew from the Psalms, which he had memorized as a boy, that God would rescue him. Now he also knew it in his heart while he cried. The resurrection would come, the promises would be fulfilled, and by surrendering to the Father's comforting strength, Jesus would be able to travel the path of pain that would eventually lead to the promised victory.
In John 19:25-27, we see this comforting embrace repeat itself in the relationship between Mary and the disciple John. This was Mary's moment of greatest sorrow; she grieved with a heartbreak that only mothers can know. John grieved over the suffering and loss of his dearest friend. And Jesus, despite his own sorrow-filled pain, passed his Father's inheritance of comfort on to his mother and friend by permanently unifying their mutual embrace into a bond of supportive friendship.
It's in Christian community that we receive God's comfort. He is giving you caring friends who will embrace you with his love. If you don't know who these comfort-companions are, look closer and reach out wider; they are here for you. God wants to embrace you through them to give you his tender compassion and sympathy.
See also our Bereavement Wordbytes at GNM: http://wordbytes.org/bereavementand leaflets at CDR: http://catholicdr.com/faithbuilders/bereavement
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
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