Quotes of the Day for April 9, 2026 – Thoughts on tears of grief and tears of love
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“Jesus wept. These two words show that God arranged the salvation of people not coldly and indifferently, not because He had to, was forced to, but because He desired this fervently. Christ's tears reveal the Lord's inner world: He loves His creation, He grieves that death deforms people, separates them from one another, brings anguish and melancholy into the world, and deprives people of happiness…Jesus's tears show that God does not fit into the framework of human deductive reasoning. He after all loves us, co-suffers with us, and worries about us with a deeply personal, fatherly interest, while remaining perfect God—all powerful and almighty….Jesus's tears teach us not to be ashamed to weep. If Christ was not ashamed, even less so should we be ashamed. If only our tears would always be as pure, noble, and compassionate. Such weeping is pleasant to God. But there are tears of envy, hatred, unforgiven offenses, dark depression, or drunken declarations. Such tears have nothing in common with Jesus's tears. We have no need for them.” (Priest Leonid Kudryachov)
“Before He raised Lazarus, in John 11:25-26 Christ said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” Ten verses later in the shortest verse of the Bible, John 11:35, it reads “Jesus wept.” He wept even though He knew He was going to restore Lazarus to life. As heart wrenching as grief is, there’s beauty in tears of grief because their source is love; a deep love for another person. Jesus sanctified grief born out of love and shows us tears are appropriate for death and sorrow even when we know a loved one is still alive in Christ.” (Sacramental Living Ministries)
“…there is an intimate link between repentance and tears. There are other criteria, but grief is paramount, and its intensity is proportionate to the depth of repentance….Gregory the Theologian believed that everyone must weep. He even identified repentance with tears, whatever other ways of expressing it there may be: "All must shed tears, all must be purified, all must ascend." Symeon the Theologian is even more definite: "Remove tears and with them you remove purification; and without purification no one is saved.” (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese)
“We are to be Christ’s Body on earth – that is both a high calling and a daunting task. That we miss the mark (i.e., sin) at times is also reality. Then we have to repent (admit our shortcomings whether individually or collectively) and rise up and try again…Christ is divine and sinless, but His Body is composed of sinners (supposedly repentant ones). It is we, not Christ, who fail, which is why through history many saints so emphasized repentance and tears as normative Christian piety.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)
“But the righteous are revealed as well. The steadfast love of the Mother of God never wavered before the Cross. Her faithfulness is revealed. The kindness of Joseph of Arimathea is forever marked by an empty tomb. The tears of a harlot reveal the nature of love, even hidden beneath the deeds of her life. In the judgment of God, all things are simply shown to be what they truly are. Sin is seen to be sin. Love is seen to be love. There is clarity. And in the judgment of God, His own love is shown to be what it truly is – self-sacrificing, forgiving, relentless in its mercy. It is not a love that pronounces forgiveness from the Cross only to pronounce destruction on another occasion. The crucified Christ is not a revelation that is succeeded by another. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1Co 2:2). The Bridegroom comes. Judgment arrives. All things are revealed for what they truly are.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
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