Rejoicing with Those Who Rejoice, Weeping with Those Who Weep. Having the Same Care for One Another
Rejoicing with Those Who Rejoice, Weeping with Those Who Weep.
Having the Same Care for One Another
“Rejoicing with those who rejoice, and weeping with those who weep. Being of the same care one for another” (Romans 12:15–16).
The Apostle says: “Rejoicing with those who rejoice.” What kind of joy does he mean? He does not mean rejoicing with those who rejoice in worldly amusement, frivolity, and corruption. Concerning this, the psalmist said in Psalm One about the righteous man that “he did not sit in the seat of the scornful” (Psalm 1:1). The spiritual person does not participate in licentious joys that distance him from God. Rather, he rejoices with those who rejoice in a pure joy within the love of God.
And his joy with people is a practical joy, not merely an emotion without fruit. As it was said about the Lord Christ: “For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted” (Hebrews 2:18). Yes, He aids them, not merely pities them or feels sorry for them. This is the deep meaning of the phrase “weeping with those who weep.” This is what the Lord meant by the parable of the Good Samaritan in his practical compassion (Luke 10).
This is also what the Lord did with Jonah the prophet in his grief, and likewise with Elijah the prophet. It was not merely theoretical compassion, but the Scripture says: “Then the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery” (Jonah 4:6). Then God practically drew Jonah to reconciliation with Him when Jonah grieved over the plant when it withered (Jonah 4:7–11).
When Elijah the prophet fled from the face of Jezebel the wicked queen and asked that he might die, “suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, ‘Arise and eat.’” And there was a cake baked on coals and a jar of water. So he ate and drank. “And the angel of the Lord came back the second time and touched him, and said, ‘Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you’” (1 Kings 19:5, 7). Then God appeared to him, spoke with him, comforted him, and entrusted him with a mission to fulfill (1 Kings 19:13–18).
It is not merely feelings, but practical help. Saint James the Apostle gives an example of this in his discourse on faith and works, saying: “If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?” (James 2:15–16). Such behavior in theoretical compassion is like faith without works, which the Apostle said is “dead in itself” (James 2:17).
Saint Paul the Apostle says about emotional interaction with the afflicted: “Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also” (Hebrews 13:3). It is feeling the feelings of others and sharing with them in their emotions, as though their condition were our own, as though we ourselves were suffering what they suffer. Are we not all one body? Thus the Apostle also says: “Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?” (2 Corinthians 11:29).
The noble feelings of this saint are evident toward Onesimus, the servant of Philemon. He sends to his master Philemon saying: “I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me… Receive him, that is, my own heart… no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother… But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account. I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay” (Philemon 10–19). Onesimus is as myself; his problem is my problem, and his debts are my debts.
How beautiful and profound is the feeling of the Lord Christ toward the afflicted and the needy. He says: “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40). And He explains this, saying: “I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me” (Matthew 25:35–36).
Therefore, we bless all those who carry out such services, such as ambulance associations that hasten to rescue and save every wounded and sick person, as well as the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, and all organizations that perform relief work, and likewise all those who work in social services—such as shelters, charity committees, those who care for the poor, expatriates, the elderly, and those with incurable diseases, and the like—provided that this is done in a spirit of compassion and love, with noble and sensitive feelings.
We also apply the phrase “rejoicing with those who rejoice” to the inhabitants of heaven who await us when we complete our struggle and join them—namely, the angels and the spirits of the saints, who in longing and love await the day when we depart from the body so that we may all share together in joy. As the Apostle said: “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now… even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:22–23).
The priest-father is a marvelous example of applying the Apostle’s words: “Rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep.” Thus he is in his participation with people, in his visits and pastoral care, and in the prayers and rites he performs. He prays at funerals, sharing people’s sorrowful feelings, and then goes from them to an engagement or a wedding, to rejoice with the family of the bridegroom in their joy. He congratulates one family and consoles another—perhaps on the same day.
The heart of the priest is like the mercury in a thermometer: it rises and falls according to heat and cold. The mercury is the same, yet it changes according to the mouth in which it is placed, whether healthy or sick. It is a true example of applying this verse: “Rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep.” He merges with people in all the emotions of their lives. If he visits someone who is facing a problem, he speaks with him saying: let us search this matter together—what shall we do to solve this problem? He does not say, “What will you do?” but “What shall we do?” He is a partner with him in feeling and in action.
After the Apostle says: “Rejoicing with those who rejoice,” he also says: “Being of the same care one for another” (Romans 12:16). God cares for all, and He wants us also to have care for one another. A person should not live for himself alone, but care for others as he cares for himself, perhaps even more, preferring others to himself and forgetting himself in his love for them.
He has a self that needs care, yet because of his intense care for others, he forgets it. He firmly believes that his life does not belong to him, but belongs to the people who live with him; it belongs to society, and he offers it for the sake of all. He cares for everyone and labors so that others may rest. His personal feelings do not concern him; rather, the feelings of people concern him. The “I,” the self, the ego, has died within him.
The tears of people flow from his eyes and fall from his eyelids, and the rejoicing of people springs from his heart before it springs from theirs.
We are given an example of this in the tender, kind-hearted mother, filled with love, who thinks of her child more than she thinks of herself. She stays awake until she is assured that he has slept, and she labors so that he may rest. She gives him her tender bosom as a pillow on which he leans, and she does not complain about any request he makes, but offers herself willingly for his sake. She smiles when he smiles and rejoices in his joy. Indeed, the smile of the child is drawn on his mother’s lips before it is fully drawn on his own lips. That is, the mother smiles and rejoices when she sees the beginning of a smile on her child’s lips.
This is the first lesson in caring for others, which we learn from the mother. God placed in the heart of the mother emotions of love, tenderness, sacrifice, and care for her child more than for herself, so that we may learn this from her. The father may also have these feelings, but in another measure and with more composure and calmness, whereas the mother has these feelings with fervor and tenderness.
The feelings of care for others remove selfishness and self-centeredness from the heart, and they completely reject building one’s comfort upon the fatigue of others. The opposite is that person who pollutes the atmosphere with the smoke of his cigarette and does not care that the health of others may be harmed by his smoking, forcing them against their will to inhale this corrupt smoke. For this reason, some airlines do not allow passengers to smoke at certain times or on some short flights, and if they could, they would prohibit it altogether. Another example is the one who raises his voice in a way that disturbs tranquility and prevents others from thinking or reading, or the one who parks his car in a place that obstructs the movement of others’ cars without caring. This is selfishness that does not care for others. Likewise is every stumbling block that comes from a person and tires others, concerning which the Lord said: “Woe to that man by whom the offense comes!” (Matthew 18:7), and “It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:6).
The Scripture tells us regarding caring for others and avoiding offense: “Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being” (1 Corinthians 10:24). “If food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble” (1 Corinthians 8:13). Here the Apostle is concerned with removing offense from the weak brother—that is, caring for the conscience of the weak who may stumble because of some of our actions, even if those actions are not wrong in themselves but do not suit them. Therefore, he says: “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful” (1 Corinthians 6:12), and “All things are lawful for me, but not all things edify” (1 Corinthians 10:23).
It is required that I care for others more than I care for myself, motivated by love for others, because “love… does not seek its own” (1 Corinthians 13:4–5).
For better translation support, please contact the center.
