Jesus Wept

Jesus Wept
(Reflection on John 11:32-44, gospel for All Saints’ Day)

See, Jesus wept. We know he shares our grief.
Like Martha, Mary dared to speak her mind.
“If you had been here” – anger finds relief,
expressing thoughts so painful and unkind.
“If you had been here, he would not have died.”
Then Jesus flinched and bowed his head to cry,
disturbed in spirit, deeply moved, his side
already pierced by that sharp question “Why?”
His heart was torn before his turn to die,
for being here was what he came to do:
among us, one with every pain and sigh:
yet those most dear were deaf to what they knew,
importuned him to offer them yet more,
and beat their fists on his wide open door.
	Barbara Messner 8/11/2018