Mourning into Dancing

"Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted"...Jesus

 

St. Leo the Great wrote that the "mourning for which He promises eternal consolation, dearly beloved, has nothing to do with ordinary worldly distress.." The tears of mourning Jesus was talking about are shed for sin. I should cry out in grief for your sin and mine. This is the real sadness in our lives. Proverbs 24:16 says that even a righteous man falls 7 times a day. In this verse is a great tension! The angst is in the righteous man. He hates his sin and hates that he sins. He mourns this "wretched man" to quote Paul in Romans 7. But our great hope is in the promise, "for they shall be comforted." When we learn to hate our sin and mourn it with true tears of repentance, penance, and sorrow, we shall know a comfort so great that our mourning will turn into dancing. Read St. Augustine's "Confessions" daily, keep it by your bedside.

 

wkm