Revelation 7:14-17. The elder tells John that the multitude of people from every nation dressed in white robes and surrounding the throne in heaven are the ones "who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Therefore they are before the throne and serve Him night and day, and He will shelter them with His presence. They will no longer hunger or thirst or be scorched by the sun. The Lamb will be their shepherd and will lead them to springs of living water, "and God will wipe every tear from their eyes."

My Saint Faustina reading for today had a similar theme, she wrote "All things will have an end in this vale of tears, tears will run dry and pain will cease. Only one thing will remain - Love for You, O Lord." (Diary, 11:32). The tears, though, have to begin before they can end. Right now we are so comfortable, still, that many are not seeing the evil and the suffering - the harm that the culture and society are doing to so many. This is why the suffering continues, God is giving everyone a chance to wake up. When they do, they will start crying, as many of us have been for some time, myself included. Our tears, though, lead us to the only one who can wipe them away permanently - the Lamb, and that is a very, very good thing.

If we want to be a member of this white robed multitude, and I most certainly do, we have to recognize that our robes right now are a mess and the only thing that will remove their stains is the blood of the Lamb. His blood was shed at great cost, so our cleansing comes at a cost as well. Tears will fall, necessarily, but only love will survive in the end. How absolutely wonderful!