Blessed are Those Who Mourn

ONE

The third Beatitude: Blessed are they who Mourn.

We learn from the Prodigal Son what it means to mourn. Remember, it is the story of a son who had everything one could ask but thought he could not be happy doing the will of his father, so he asks for his inheritance before his father’s death, wishing his father were dead, and then turns  to a life of sin in search of a false happiness.  

Luke 15:13-18 A few days later, the younger son got together everything he had and left for a distant country where he squandered his money on a life of debauchery.  When he had spent it all, that country experienced a severe famine, and now he began to feel the pinch, so he hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who put him on his farm to feed the pigs.  And he would willingly have filled his belly with the husks the pigs were eating but not one offered him anything.   Then he came to his senses and said; “How many of my father’s paid servants have more food than they want, and here am I dying of hunger!  I will leave this place and go to my father and say Father I have sinned against heaven and against you.”  So, he left the place and went back to his father. 

TWO

What takes place in this story?

The young man turns away from his father, seeking to find happiness somewhere else. Once he hits rock bottom, he realizes his life of sin has only left him empty. Then he becomes a slave of his own doing and ends feeding pigs. But then he reflects on his situation and recognizes he’s not happy. This honest reflection is the beginning of his turning back to the house of his father.

These are the very steps of Mourning:

·   We all turn away from God in sin, but don’t stop there

·   Reflect and recognize the experience of sin leaves us empty and unhappy

·   This leads to a real sorrow for sin – a mourning

·   Allow this sorrow to move us to return to Our Father

THREE

What prevents most people from growing closer to God is just a lack of reflection. Am I happy or not?

We can fill every second of every day with distraction so that we never have time to reflect. Are you caught in this deadly trap? Break free, reflect, look back over the last 24 hours; think about all that you did and said or that which you failed to do. Which experiences left you satisfied? Which left you empty and unfulfilled. Experiences which are truly fulfilling are most often those that are God’s will. Experiences that leave us dissatisfied  usually are not in harmony with his will. With this little reflection each day we begin to see that the will of God  leads to happiness and fulfillment and sin leaves us empty and unhappy.

FOUR

What is the one thing the prodigal son could have done that would have saved him all his trouble?

If he would have started each day by naming all of his blessings that came from his father, he probably would not have left. Instead he got focused each day on those things he thought he was missing out on, all the false, illusory pleasures of sin. And this led him to turn away from the Father to sin.

Mourning is really about deepening conversion.

The most effective way to deepen our conversion each day is through a daily examination of conscience, beginning with Gratitude:

·   For what am I grateful?

·   To whom am I grateful? To God of course

 These things are  manifestations of God’s love for me, which leads me to ask;

·   “Where have I failed to correspond to his love today?” 

·   “How can I correspond better to his love?”

FIVE

To Mourn means to have sorrow for our sin and then turn back to the Father.

To Mourn means to be human, imperfect, limited and fall in sin

Then to have Sorrow / Contrition

Gain Self-Knowledge (humility)

Go to Confession

Get up quickly and go forward

Perfection does not consist in never falling. Rather, perfection is found in getting up quickly after a fall! The more quickly I get up after a fall – the more perfect I have become!