And Jesus wept.
A beautiful tradition among newly ordained priests is to have personalized holy cards prepared to commemorate the date of their ordination and first mass. I will always remember one of those cards that I received while still in the seminary. The quote that accompanied a colorful graphic on the front was simply: Friendship doubles our joy and divides our grief!
How true that saying is for us who have discovered and cherished the gift of friendship in our lives. There is probably no other relationship other than the ties of family that can bring such joy to our lives. True friendship is a gift both given and received and it is out of friendship that the reality of empathy can so beautifully be experienced.
Empathy is the ability to ‘feel’ what another feels. While we can indeed have empathy for those whom we perhaps do not know personally, empathy in the broadest, deepest and most expansive meaning of that term, flourishes among good friends. True friends relish and celebrate the good fortune and blessings of their friends, as well as the experiences of heart-ache and sorrow that they experience.
Marriages that fails to build upon friendship can easily be drained of one of the most important elements that enable them to flourish and grow – empathy.
Sometimes in our idealization of Jesus as the Son of God, we fail to appreciate that as a true human being, he relished the gift of friendship. While that was undoubtedly experienced among his closest companions on the journey, the Apostles, he also cherished ‘special’ friends as we see reflected in the Scriptures. Lazarus and his sisters, Martha and Mary were such special friends.
No wonder, then, that in the gospel of John, the shortest verse in all of Sacred Scripture is one that expresses the Lord’s empathy on seeing his dear friend, now in the tomb – And Jesus wept. Yet, as this profoundly beautiful and important story would go on to tell, Jesus as a dear and loving friend, would not let death have the final word in the life-story of Lazarus. Moved by the deepest of human emotions, Jesus commands that the stone be rolled back and he utters his unforgettable and life-changing words: Untie him and let him go!
Lazarus steps forth to bask again in the glory of the light of friendship with Jesus and his sisters, Martha and Mary.
Every Lenten journey is an invitation to celebrate with renewed sincerity and commitment our friendship with Jesus and to be forever mindful and grateful for his friendship with us. For, it is that relationship that truly doubles our joy and divides our grief.