Blessed Are Those Who Mourn
I’ve been thinking of Matthew 5:4 a lot lately, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted”. I have been noticing how often I decline to mourn. When I see stuff on world hunger or abortion I want to mourn but then Idon’t. Isee things as being so hopeless. Why get emotionally involved in situation when it won’t do any good?
I look at the church and see so many people not going to mass. So many involved in grave sin. Ibecome cold. I have had very little success in spreading th gospel. I don’t think I have ever drawn somebody to church. I have helped them grow once they get there but instilling the desire to repent is something I have not been able to do. So does it really make sense to mourn?
When I flip channels on TV and see a sex scene. There is a temptation to lust there. I feel good when I am able to avoid that. Still there are people degrading their bodies by letting themselves be filmed naked. There are a bunch of people involved in producing a movie that cheapens sex just to make a little money. By doing so they attack the dignity of the human person and ultimately insult God who created sex as something sacred. Then there is the society that can’t see what the problem is. There are a lot of things to be mourned. I should probably turn off the TV and say 10 Hail Mary’s for the people involved. Mostly I just try and not be sucked in.
How much mourning are we called to do? There is just so much brokenness. How does mourning bless us? What about the promise of being comforted? How does that work? It seems like failing to mourn gives too much ground to the devil. It is accepting something God finds unacceptable. We need to desire heaven on earth. That is where our comfort comes from. The idea that what is normal is not natural. That there is a better way. Maybe if I get a little more connected with that reality then I will start to attract people to that better way.
But how do I mourn? What does it look like? To feel a sadness when God feels sadness. You might be able to do that if you are a cloistered nun or monk but what about those of us who get busy with other things? How can you possibly mourn enough for all the evil out there? I guess you can’t. Mother Teresa talked about letting God handle the big problems and you handle the little ones. Not to do great things but to do small things with great love. I guess you end up picking your spots.
