In the gospel from Luke we learned that Jesus wept over Jerusalem because the children of God didn’t know how to make peace. Today, Jesus may be weeping over Facebook posts. The recent election cycle and its aftermath clearly tell us that we are living in a divided nation.
Jesus taught us that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves; rather, our “we versus they” culture war tells us peace is for wimps. If we truly work towards that peace, though, we first must hear and acknowledge much pain and sorrow on both sides. That deep listening is not for the faint of heart. It takes tenacity to stick with a story we would rather not hear. It takes empathy to care beyond our inner circle. It takes hope to forge an identity that all can claim.
Jesus weeps because we are unwilling to be neighbors to one another. May we all remember that we are members of the body of Christ.
—JoEllen Windau-Cattapan is the Atlanta area director for the Contemplative Leaders in Action, a program of the Office of Ignatian Spirituality, USA Northeast Province.