Blessed Are Those Who Mourn
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The 3rd Beatitude – Blessed are those who mourn.
To mourn means five things.
1. We are going to sin – b/c we are human
2. We should have Sorrow – but it cant end there…
3. We can learn from our falls - Gain Self-Knowledge (humility)
4. We go to Jesus and encounter the Mercy of God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation
5. Then get up and go forward and become a saint.
We learn what it means to mourn from four snapshots from the life of St. Peter. In Luke chapter 5 Jesus finds a small group of fishermen who had been out fishing all night and caught nothing. Jesus gets into Peter’s boat and tells him to put out into the deep for a catch. Peter responds, “Hey man, I’m the professional here, and we’ve been at this all night and caught nothin. I got this.”
Isn’t that the way we spend life. We are too busy for silence and prayer because “We’ve got this.” And we come up empty. But Peter had enough humility to say, “But at your word Lord we will lower our nets.” And he catches such a massive haul, they can’t even bring it in. Immediately Peter falls to his knees and cries out, “What are the winning Power Ball numbers?” That’s what I would have asked. No Peter says, “Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” What made Peter fall to his knees?...He felt unworthy because of his sins. This is what sin does to us. We sin, then we don’t feel worthy, and we step away from God. That is precisely the devil’s plan. We mistakenly think we have to get worthy before we can go to God. But we sin and we slide away into the shadows because we feel shame – we feel unworthy.
If shame makes him fall to his knees, what enables him to rise? Mercy.
St Elizabeth of the Trinity says Peter was dumbstruck by the excessive love of Jesus manifest by the excessive catch of fish. Peter’s sin causes him to fall. The mercy expressed by the excessive catch causes him to rise. Mercy is the excessive unconditional healing love of Christ. You don’t have to become worthy before you receive the mercy of Christ because it is unconditional – there are no conditions. And His mercy is excessive! And it is healing! Peter encounters the mercy through the excessive catch - and he rises and goes forward.
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The 2nd snap shot of Peter.
At the Last Supper Jesus looked into the eyes of Peter and said:
Simon, Simon, behold Satan demands to have you that he might sift you life wheat…Peter Responded: Lord I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.
Then Jesus led the Apostles to Gethsemane where Judas brought the band of soldiers. Then they seized Jesus and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s palace. Peter followed at a distance; and when they had kindled a charcoal fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. Three times someone accused Peter of being a disciple of Jesus. Twice Peter denied it. At the third instance, just as the maid said to Peter, ‘Surely you are one of his disciples’ - they brought Jesus into the courtyard and exactly at that moment Peter swore an oath, “I swear to God I never knew the man.” At that instance, the Lord looked at Peter. And their eyes met. The cock crowed. And Peter went out and wept bitterly.
What was the look that Jesus gave Peter? It was the infinite look of mercy that drew the tears of repentance. There were two men who betrayed Jesus; Peter and Judas. What is the only difference between Judas and Peter? Judas fled from Jesus, despaired, and killed himself. Peter went to Jesus and encountered His mercy which enables him to rise after his fall and go forward.
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The 3rd snapshot of Peter.
After the Resurrection, we find Peter and the other Apostles back fishing on the Sea of Galilee.
Once again they’ve been at it all night and come up empty.
Early in the morning, a stranger from shore calls out to them “Friends, have you caught anything?”
No.
“Well, cast your nets on the right side.”
Once again, an excessive catch of fish.
John cries out, “It’s the Lord.”
Splash, Peter dives in and swims to the shore and gets out…and there is a charcoal fire…Peter looks at it and says to himself,
“Oh, damn, not that fire again.”
Do you think the Lord was rubbing it in a little bit?
Then Jesus takes Peter aside and three times he asks him “Peter do you love me.”
And three times Peter affirms, “Yes, Lord, you know I that Iove you.”
A three-fold affirmation to repair his three-fold denial.
On the shore of the Sea of Galilee Peter goes to confession, he goes to the Sacrament of Mercy which allows him to rise and go forward.
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The Fourth snapshot of Peter.
Peter goes on to establish the Catholic Church in Rome. During the reign of Nero, Rome burns and he blames it on the Christians. The flock begged Peter to flee the city, which he does in disguise. But whom does Peter meet as he is fleeing, but Jesus coming back into the city carrying his Cross. Peter remarks, “Quo Vadis” “Lord, where do you go?’
Well, Peter, I must go back into the city and lay down my life for the sheep because you won’t. So Peter turns around, goes back into Rome, is arrested, put in prison and then crucified.
He did it. Remember what Peter desired to do at the Last Supper: “Lord I will go to prison and die for you.”
Peter had the right desire. Sure, it took 34 years but Peter did it. And how did he do it? Every time Peter fell he sought out the Mercy of Jesus and that Mercy, that excessive, unconditional healing love of Christ enabled Him to rise and go forward.
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Blessed are those who Mourn. What does this mean? To mourn means five things. It means
1) We are going to sin – we are going to fall
2) Then we have Sorrow / Contrition
3) Gain Self-Knowledge (humility)
4) Then go encounter the Mercy of Jesus in the Sacrament of Reconciliation
5) Then go forward
We are going to fall. But Jesus wants to pour out His excessive unconditional healing love – He wants to pour out His Mercy upon us in the sacrament of Reconciliation.
Perfection does not consist in never falling. Rather, perfection is measured by how up quickly we get up after a fall! The more quickly I get up – the more perfect I have become!
Go to the Mercy of Jesus in Reconciliation often and you will rise and you will be able to do what you never dreamed – you will become a saint! Because that is what you were made for.
Confession is the sacrament of getting up and moving on!