May 26, 2026
The following is an excerpt from Pope Francis’ book, “A Good Life: 15 Essential Habits for Living with Hope and Joy.”
THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW HOW TO CRY ARE NOT GOOD CHRISTIANS
“The hardest question we ask ourselves is: Why do children have to suffer? Why? It is when our hearts manage to ask this question and weep that we begin to understand. Temporal compassion is completely useless! That kind of compassion has us, at the very most, reaching into our pockets and extracting a few coins. If Christ had had that kind of compassion, He would have cured three or four people and then returned to the Heavenly Father. It was when Christ wept—and how He wept!—that He understood our troubles.
The world today needs us to weep! The marginalized weep, the neglected weep, the scorned weep, but those of us who lead a relatively comfortable life do not know how to weep. There are truths we can see only with eyes that have been cleansed by tears. I ask each one of you to ask yourselves: Do I know how to weep? Do I weep when I see a child that is hungry? Do I weep when I see a child on drugs living on the street? Or a homeless, abandoned and mistreated child? Or a child who has been exploited and enslaved by society? Or do I only know how to weep like a selfish person who cries for something that they want?
This is the first thing I would like to say to you: let us learn how to weep. In the Bible, Jesus wept. He wept for His friend who had died. He wept in His heart for the family who had lost their daughter. He wept in His heart when He saw the poor widow accompanying her son to the cemetery. He was moved and wept in His heart when He saw how the crowds resembled sheep without a shepherd. If you do not learn how to weep, you are not good Christians. This is your challenge. Be brave—do not be afraid to cry!
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