No regrets?

Some people treat the very word regret with fear or disdain. But regret is universal. It is simply a part of the human condition. I wonder if Jesus, our fully human and fully divine savior, experienced regret when he witnessed Mary’s and Martha’s heartbreak at the death of their brother, Lazarus. What did Jesus feel when Martha met him weeping and screaming, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.”? John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus was “deeply moved in spirit and troubled…and Jesus wept” (John 11:33-35). Even in the light of certain resurrection, regret is near.

Jesus knows the depth of great suffering. This means that Jesus knows the pain we carry, and Jesus invites us to trade our sorrows for his joy. Nothing in our past, present or future — positive or negative — can separate us from the love of God. There is absolutely nothing in the world that is stronger than God’s grace.

This message is excerpted from “No regrets?” by Angela T. Khabeb in the October 2018 Cafe online magazine. Today is the Fifth Sunday in Lent.

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