Veils, Webs, And Tears

In our first reading from Isaiah we hear him speak of a veil that veils all peoples and a web that is woven over all nations. This veil and this web are to be destroyed by God who will wipe away tears from every face.  Let’s focus on that veil and on that web, then on tears.

First: the veil. When we say we are veiled, it means we hide ourselves from something or someone. For example, brides wear veils on their wedding days.  The veil is a symbol of the bride’s modesty and purity as well as her reverence for God. When the bridal veil is removed, the couple has full access to each other; there is no barrier.  

When Isaiah says God destroys the veil, it means we have full access to God – no barrier. A New Testament example would be the Temple veil being torn in two when Christ died on the cross.  By tearing or removing the veil, the separation between us and God and is gone.  That’s wonderful biblical symbolism for God reaching out to us. 

Our Gospels are veiled according to St Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians. Our Gospels hold secrets – veiled truths about God told to us by Jesus.  Their meanings are explored at every Mass and perhaps during Bible study.

It’s fair to say that today’s reading from Matthew is veiled.  It’s the parable about the wedding feast.   “Then he said to his servants, 'The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come.  Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.'  The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests...”

Lifting the veil we discover those in authority and with power – secular or religious – were invited to the feast also called the Kingdom of God.  But in Jesus’ time, and in our time as well, they abused that authority and power by furthering their own interests and protecting their prestige and possessions. They weren’t really worthy to come to the feast or enter the Kingdom. That’s why the servants were told to go into the streets to invite bad and good alike to the feast. 

This sounds a lot like Jesus telling his followers to make disciples of all nations. It’s Jesus telling us that both the bad and the good are loved by God.  Those of us who think we are good cannot imagine that the bad are loved and welcomed to the banquet hall.  But they are.

Quite often the so-called “bad” are just veiled individuals hiding or acting on their fears and hurts and believing they are unloved.   Whether good or bad, we are all guilty of veiling ourselves and hiding our feelings about those around us.  Spouses might veil their love by not simply saying to each other, “I love you.”  Parents veil their feelings about our children by not saying, “We’re proud of you, and love you no matter what.”  We all must tear away those veils and show our faces, our smiles, our love.

Now to the second focus: the web.  We’ve all heard the expression webs of lies and webs of deceit.  These webs are spun by those wishing to entangle other people in their misguided and purposeful attempts to control the crowd and sway popular opinion to their ideas through trickery, propaganda, and manipulation – through lies.

The internet is one weapon used to create and cast webs, and we are all potential flies waiting to be caught by all sorts of spiders.  We need to be careful of those webs having caused many hurts and tears that need to be wiped away.  That can be done when God is our webmaster and the one guarding against hackers of our minds and hearts.

And last, we have a story about tears.  It’s entitled “God Gave Women Tears” by an unknown author.  I dedicate it to Father Marek’s mother whose memorial Mass was held last week.

A little boy asked his mother, "Why are you crying?"

"Because I'm a woman," she told him.  "I don't understand," he said.  His mum just hugged him and said, "And you never will."

Later the little boy asked his father, "Why does mother seem to cry for no reason?" "All women cry for no reason," was all his dad could say.  The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry.  Finally he put in a call to God; and when God got on the phone, he asked, "God, why do women cry so easily?"

God said: "When I made the woman she had to be special.  I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world; yet, gentle enough to give comfort.  I gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times comes from her children.  I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else gives up, and take care of her family through sickness and fatigue without complaining.

I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances, even when her child has hurt her very badly.  I gave her strength to carry her man through his faults and fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart.  I gave her wisdom to know that a good man never hurts his woman, but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him unfalteringly.

And finally, I gave her a tear to shed.  This is hers exclusively to use whenever it is needed.  And it can be often.

You see, the beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.  The beauty of a woman must be seen in the tears in her eyes and tears she sheds, because that is the doorway to her heart – the place where love resides.  [end]

The doorway to our hearts is always open when the veils are removed, the webs are smashed, and we allow our tears to flow.  That’s when the feast begins.  God invites us all to the place where love resides.  All God needs is an RSVP.

Deacon David Pierce