From the time I received my assignment to work downtown, God has been telling me that one of his designs in this season of my life is to teach me how to live my life as a Franciscan penitent, as a poor person consecrated to God, in a more thoroughgoing way. I marvel daily at how he is teaching me through my brothers and sisters downtown.
One thing I have been struck by lately is the number of people who have tears tattooed at the corners of their eyes. I’ve wondered if it has any meaning but the obvious one; frankly, I wondered if it had to do with something nefarious: gangs, crime, etc. As nobody I’m close to has these tattoos, I’ve hitherto been too shy to ask about their meaning.
Greeting the people coming for groceries, the deep interiority of one man’s eyes struck me and I noticed two tears tattooed in the corner of his eye. After an initial, “Hello!” I found myself asking, almost in spite of myself, “Sir, if it’s not too rude to ask, would you mind telling me the meaning of the tears tattooed by your eye?”
“Yes, Sister – the one’s for my Mom, for her sorrows. And the other is for me – for the things I did, you know, on the streets.” He met my gaze steadily. He did not excuse or justify himself. He just met my gaze, as if to say, “Here I am. I am sorry for things I’ve done and pain I’ve caused. My remembrance and my sorrow have marked me for the rest of my life. What do you think?”
What I thought came out immediately in a few words, “Thank you for sharing that. What those tears represent, we call ‘reparation’ – repairing the sins of our lives by sorrow and trust in God’s mercy.”
“Reparation”, he said softly, “yes. That’s it.”
And that was all the time we had – his car was at the front of the line and the National Guard efficiently took over. Waving goodbye, I was full of joy and courage, grateful to have met a brother in Christ, living like me a life of penance. Only, instead of a habit, he wore tattooed tears.
-Sr. Agnes Therese Davis, T.O.R.
