BLESSED ARE THEY WHO MOURN, for they will be comforted

Happy are you who weep your tears will be turned to joy. Intro Welcome dear friends for the third day of our novena. The Lord has gathered us together as one family to acknowledge together to say “You are our God who cares for us everyday of our live. As we reflect on the beatitudes of Jesus in the life of Mother Clara, we see that she did not always walk on a bed of roses but there were always struggles, difficulties and bitterness in her life. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, in every painful experience, if you continue, endurance will bring you to your greatest triumph. Life’s painful experience is the real teacher for our learning. Have you ever cried when some one died they who mourn are those • who exhibit patient endurance or acceptance of the deep realities of life as part of God’s providence • who are the opposite of the complaining about the bitter truth and accept the vacuum life remains with. • whose hearts turn to God for mercy and consolation Has any one comforted you in your sorrow, loss or sadness They are also those whose sufferings open their hearts to God • who have hope and faith in the “Transcendent” God who will fill their emptiness • Jesus cried when his best friend Lazarus died. • Jesus wept with the widow of Nain seeing the dead body of her young son • Jesus lamented on the thought of sharing the sight of his passion with Mary To such persons who can cry and also be a comfort for others, • God is present even in the face of suffering • They are saddened at the sufferings, sins and evils in the world. But they look to God as the one who can give meaning and comfort in the face of all these realities. • They accept the truth that Life is not eternal HYMN What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer! Oh, what peace we often forfeit, Oh, what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer! Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged— Take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful, Who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness; Take it to the Lord in prayer. Are we weak and heavy-laden, Cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge— Take it to the Lord in prayer. Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer! In His arms He’ll take and shield thee, Thou wilt find a solace there. Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised Thou wilt all our burdens bear; May we ever, Lord, be bringing All to Thee in earnest prayer. Soon in glory bright, unclouded, there will be no need for prayer— Rapture, praise, and endless worship will be our sweet portion there. Without remorse, concern, or care that one has violated the will of God… One will not mourn, who has not repented, One will not truly be converted to the Lord, and will not receive eternal “comfort.” (2 Cor. 7:9-10; ) Have we wept for the death of our souls in sin? God weeps for us when we are stubborn and do not want to return to His House like the Prodigal Father who waited for his Son in tears. Gregory of Nyssa taught that the Beatitudes built one upon another. Thus if we are humble and appreciate that all of our gifts and blessings come from God, we grow in love and gratitude for Jesus Christ our Savior. But this can only produce mourning and regret over our own sins and the sins of this world, for we have hurt the one who has been so good to us. Psalm 30 I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit. Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones, give thanks to his holy For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning. As for me, I said in my prosperity, "I shall never be moved." By your favor, O Lord, you had established me as a strong mountain you hid your face; I was dismayed. To you, O Lord, I cried, and to the Lord I made supplication: "What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness? Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me! O Lord, be my helper!" You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever. The promise of this hope, though, comes for me in two lines, the first that "Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning." The psalmist is not dishonest about pain, about suffering. But the psalmist also believes that with God there is always hope. It reminds me of the line from the hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness" in which I have taken some solace in hard times: "strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow." The second promise of Psalm 30, of course, is that God will turn "mourning into dancing." What a beautiful image, and what a profound hope. My prayer—in the midst of my own discernment, in the midst of this wreck of a saint's feast we call Valentine's Day, and in the midst of arrogant and spiteful attempts to break apart those who love each other—my prayer is, "Dearest God, God of the lover and the Beloved, turn our mourning into dancing." Amen The comfort of Mother Clara is seen in her words: “Valor and courage dear daughter, because this life is only two days and heaven is an eternity for all! When perhaps we feel dejected and dispirited, let us remember heaven and only this hope will encourage us!” “In spite of the most cruel bitterness, contradictions and grief, I see a providential glance of God that watches over us”. “No suffering reaches or touches us without the sight of God”. The Plan of the Master Weaver Our lives are but fine weavings that God and we prepare, Each life becomes a fabric planned and fashioned in God's care. We may not always see just how the weavings intertwine, But we must trust the Master's hand and follow God's design, For God can view the pattern upon the upper side, While we must look from underneath and trust in God to guide... Sometimes a strand of sorrow is added to the plan, And though it's difficult for us, we still must understand That it's God who fills the shuttle; it's God who knows what's best, So we must weave in patience and leave to God the rest... Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly Shall God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why -- The dark threads are as needed in the Weaver's skilful hand As the threads of gold and silver in the pattern God has planned.