““Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” Luke 19:10-13
The words of the “Jesus Prayer” were spoken in this parable by the publican. “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” See my prior post from October 2020 for more on the Jesus Prayer in the reflection “The Jesus Prayer”
The desert fathers said the greatest way to turn back to God after the Sacrament of Confession is to pray for the gift of tears. Why tears? How is this a gift?
Which is harder, water or granite? Smack your knuckle against a block of granite and pour a cup of water over your hand, now answer. Most would probably say granite. Correct. Now, take that small stream of water and apply it against a large slab of granite for a 1,000 years. What will happen to the granite? The water will carve into and through the granite given enough time. It doesn’t even take a lot of water to do this. Look at the Grand Canyon. A small river carved that magnificent wonder. Or, in the Finger Lakes in NY, there is a small gorge about 1.5 mile long. The gorge is maybe 50-75 feet deep at points and throughout the sound of water can be deafening. It is speckled with waterfalls and water shoots. But, what really marvels me about this structure, the lack of water. It is at best a small stream that runs through.
A hardened heart is tougher than a slab of granite, yet the flow of tears can break through the stone, hard heart. See in the story of the woman who washes Jesus’s feet with her tears.
“And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair.” Luke 7:37-38. “Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Luke 7:47-48
Her tears broke her sinful heart and brought upon it the cleansing power of God’s Divine Mercy. Even the most hardened heart can be overcome by the power of tears. The gift of tears carved into the hardness wrapped around the heart opening the way for Divine Mercy to pour in.
With each time we say the “Jesus Prayer”, we call upon the power of the sorrowful heart and grace of tears. The Publican’s prayer has the same effect upon our heart as it did his and the woman who washed Jesus’ feet.
To call upon the grace of tears is to direct a mighty river with the power to wash away every and all sins that we’ve every committed which have been acting as a dam, holding back the ocean of mercy from entering our soul.
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Each time we say this prayer, it is as if we are taking a small hammer and chisel against the concrete dam and chipping a piece away. Soon, the ocean of mercy will gush forth.
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Brothers and sisters, chip away.