Jesus says, Blessed are those who Mourn?

Lenten Series - Jesus Blesses, the Beatitudes & the Stations of the Cross - 2nd Sunday of Lent, March 1st, 2026

Our first reading is the first beatitude given by Jesus in the gospel of Matthew [5:1-4]:

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.’

Station 3: Jesus falls, for the first time, as he carries his cross towards Golgotha.

After the crowd demanded that Barabbas, and not Jesus, be released: “Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and striking him on the face.”  (John 19:1-3).

Station 4: As Jesus continues to carry his cross, he encounters his mother, Mary. We remember her song, 

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowly state of his servant. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones

and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good thingsand sent the rich away empty. (Luke 1:47-48, 52-53)

As Jan shared last week, the beatitudes are at the heart of Jesus’ message as they talk of God’s love and concern for the marginalized and hurting. This message was controversial, make no mistake, and it is what led to Jesus’ execution. By taking time to reflect on Jesus’ journey toward his death, we can see these beatitudes embodied in Christ, and we grow in our adoration for the One who loves so radically.

Today’s beatitude is the second we find in Matthew’s version: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. As we know, the word ‘blessed’ can also mean ‘happy’ or ‘privileged.’ How can the bereaved possibly find happiness amid their pain? First, a little levity…

Based on a true story I heard from a nurse. An elderly patient was nearing his death while staying in hospice. He had been doing fairly well, all considering, until one afternoon, his breathing became labored and shallow. This man who was normally joking around with us was no longer smiling. He said he had a crushing feeling in his chest, and he knew he wasn't going to live much longer. After the palliate nurse assessed him, she told the family that if there was anyone they wanted to call, they might want to start calling them. As the day progressed, the hall was full of his children and grandchildren coming to say their goodbyes. I spoke with one of his daughters and she was upset because her brother was still at work and had not been able to leave to come to the hospital. She told me that her father told her he was about to go, but she told him to hold on until this last son could be there. As soon as the son's shift was over, he raced to the hospital. As soon as the elevator doors opened, he burst through them...running to his father's side. The crowd parted to make room for him to say his final goodbye. As he leaned over the pale man in the bed, he said "Daddy, I'm here." With the solemn look on his face, the old man responded "Thank heavens! I really have to go pee." As everyone stood there in shock, the old man got out of bed, walked to the bathroom, then proceeded to come back and perform magic tricks for the children and tell jokes to the stunned crowd. When we rechecked his vital signs, they had all returned to normal. He lived for another week and a half.

We know that Jesus prioritized ministry to the suffering. He embraced hated tax collectors, he welcomed disgraced and ‘sinful’, he gave voice to voiceless women, he healed the sick and marginalized. He criticized religious systems that oppressed, and he presented a vision of God’s kingdom where the weak are made strong, where the suffering are specially blessed.

As followers of the way of Jesus, we are invited to consider how the pattern of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection shows itself in our lives. The practice of contemplating the stations of the Cross, stopping at different points in Christ’s Passion that we find in Scripture and tradition – is not intended to promote violence or even illicit feelings of guilt or shame. They are snapshots of God’s love poured out – not as punishment for the bad things we’ve done – but to show us how God’s presence can be experienced even in the darkest moments of our lives and that God can even use these times for personal transformation and for the betterment of those around us.

Today we stop for a moment at the Third Station where we see Jesus falling for the first time. St. Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ – it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.” What do you think Paul means here? Elsewhere Biblical writers talk about ‘dying to self’? What does that mean? Is it about punishing ourselves or letting others destroy us? Some name this an ‘Out of ego experience?’ That is, we can get tripped up over desire, greed, anger, prejudice – or what about health? Or grief? When we feel like we’re losing ourselves – can this be a place where we find God? When we are most vulnerable, most open, is this not when we encounter the Divine that transcends the self? Is it not in letting go that we find true freedom?

Letting go of that or those most precious to us is no easy thing. It is agonizingly painful. It can feel like we’re losing a big part of ourselves. Was this not Mary’s experience as she gazed upon her son carrying the Cross to Golgotha? Is it not said, and some of you can verify, that there is no grief like that of losing a child?

In the Magnificat Mary sings of the wonder and love of God that transforms the world. I wonder if these words came back to her as she watched in horror as her beloved son was tortured. Did she still consider herself God’s ‘lowly servant’? Could she have imagined how much she would suffer as the Mother of the Christ? Or could she have discerned that what Jesus was going through would begin the work of God turning the world upside down, exposing the violent hypocrisy of the powerful, redeeming the suffering of those in pain? Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted…

Questions for Reflection:

How are the bereaved comforted?

When and how have you grieved?  What helped you, and what helps others, through this process?  What doesn’t work in responding to people who grieve?  How would you support Mary in her mourning for her son?

When and how have you fallen down? When have you had your ego broken?  What was painful, and what, if anything, was positive as a result of that “fall”?

When Israel “fell” to the Roman occupation, what effect did that have on the national psyche?  What happens when nations or groups of people are humiliated today?  What can be done to help lift people up, if they have “fallen”?

What has remained unsaid, and undone, between you and your parents or siblings or children or friends, which needs to be resolved?  What would you say, what would you do, if you could?

How can you be an instrument of healing and reconciliation in your family or circle of closest friends?