Ash Wednesday – February 14, 2024
“There’s no crying in baseball!” we hear in A League of Their Own. But according to the prophet Joel, there sure need to be a few tears shed in repentance: “Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; . . . let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep . . .” (Joel 2:12, 17).
Pope Francis often refers to “the gift of tears,” which is mourning over another’s suffering or over one’s own sin. In both of these aspects, the tears flow because God’s grace pierces our hearts with such love for another that when they are hurt, we feel their pain as well.
If we forget how to weep out of love, we risk loving out of duty, for to be truly sorry is to be full of sorrow.
When their suffering is caused by our sin, the sorrow we feel is even greater, and we mourn the good we have not done. This grief is not being upset over making a mistake, which the pope calls pride. Rather, it “springs from having the life of others at heart” (general audience, February 12, 2020).
If we forget how to weep out of love, we risk loving out of duty, for to be truly sorry is to be full of sorrow. Marked with ashes on our heads, let us wash our faces with tears and soften our stony hearts with cries that our contrition may be perfected by our love for God and for one another.
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