And finally...... Blessed are they that are saddened...... for they shall be comforted.

It was the vigil of Pentecost and we had decided to spend the night in eager anticipation of the Great Feast. We travelled to Sunderland where we knew that there would be just such a vigil and Eucharistic Adoration in the Church of St Hilda Sunderland. It was during this that the Lord chose to give the last teaching on the Beatitudes. Over the months I have pondered as to why this was given last and as it happens had to write it down in a new book which somehow too was symbolic.

Although seemingly brief it touches on the' live-ness' of the Beatitudes. It is not simply in the words or form that the call lies but in our desire to live out the call in response to the blessings that Heaven bestows upon us. It is only when we realise that they are in fact blessings and therefore a matter for rejoicing that we can cry out with one voice 'Holy Holy Holy, is the Lord.'

So in the gentle quiet of the church Jesus gave the following word . . . (15/05/05..2.a.m.)

JESUS . . . Are you finally ready to receive My Words to you about the blessing of Sadness - or as you now say mourning. You have had much sadness in the past weeks and all those journeys - up and down east and west - north and south-- all done with much sadness and a feeling of despondency especially at your inability to find what I have asked of you- a chapel for your Apostolate. You soon will, but learn to carry all that pain . . .

Jesus then continued with a more personal message. The teaching is singularly brief and at first glance almost surprisingly so. However the key is in the teaching. To live sadness!

I was not left however without guidance. A call to a Bishop friend and advisor (...........) placed the commentary firmly in my hands. As I was speaking to him he said that I should write my reflections on what I have received. I am generally reluctant to do so (had Father Peter not told me a long while back to write?).

As it happens it was this Beatitude where I discovered the changes in language at the start of all these teachings and it was then that I received the dictate.

The following are some reflection on mourning and sadness and, as the Polish has it, ‘Toiling and weeping.'

There has been much 'mourning' and many deaths recently in our lives. Notably a mother of a close friend who was drowned and the daughter of another friend, and so this has made me reflect on the words ‘Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted’

The word mourn has often puzzled me. In some ways, yes, mourning or loss can be a time of great spiritual growth and awakening and the depth of sorrow makes some recourse to God - with the question... WHY? and then more whys?. Then there is also anger, -- then sometimes guilt, regrets and the pain of aloneness. Sometimes the spirit rejects the offer of comfort that faith can bring, and the soul recoils from God in anger and self - pity. But comfort is there not only of the wound being healed but also in the gift of tears, and consolation of the thoughts of eternal life and joy. Did Jesus himself not weep at the death of Lazarus?

Mourning is something that all will do at some part of their life and therefore is a blessing for it enables the Creator to Comfort the Mourner with His Love and remind them of the purpose of our existence which is to be found in the 'life after death'.

I have also seen the dignity of the mourner - when faith filled. Too, the despair of those who are not. I have seen pain turned to acceptance of suffering which brings to the mourner a kind of blessing which changes into surrender and peace which in human terms is inexplicable. How can grief be turned to Joy? There is the obvious realisation that for those who have departed pain has ceased (or is about too . . . ) and that they share a place of rest with countless others. There is also a place of Communion with the Saints - those who have left before and await the arrival of others of creation that been purified.

How gracious was the forgiveness of a mother whose son was murdered in our land simply because as she said she was a believer!

But there is also the deep realisation of our own mortality and with this the acceptance of it as a ' passage' not as a stopping place. Two eternal truths-- We are born to die. We do not will ourselves to be born and we cannot prevent our dying. This of itself can bring a certain peace. Yes there is a 'fear' but this too can give way to a placidity in the wake of the inevitable. Every hair on our head is numbered.

Yet something has worried me a little about the word ' mourn'. Unlike the other Beatitudes it seemed to be a negative rather than a call to something. For example- to BE a peacemaker, to be poor in spirit requires change. Mourning is something that is imposed rather than chosen. Indeed we do not choose to wish for death for our friends and family so that we can mourn . . . that would be ludicrous and cruel to say the least. Mourning as gift can ennoble, yes, but is that the meaning of this Beatitude?

While searching for the meaning of this in my heart, I discovered that the word 'mourn' has been translated, certainly in Polish as sad. Blessed are the sad. Looking up an old copy of the New testament in Polish (1948, curiously imprimatured by the then JB Montini!), I found that the word used was ' blessed are they that cry' ( are tearful)'..... 'placza'. In an even older version the word used was 'smeca' -- to toil or tire. (1961 reproduction of a very old Bible translated from Greek and Hebrew)

So we have....sad....toil....get tired.....tire..... and tearful. The Jerusalem Bible quotes 'Happy are those who mourn’. An older Laymen's New Testament (1934, Bishop Challoner) has ' Blessed are they that mourn '. The NIV too has 'mourn' and 'blessings'. Looking up Peake’s Commentary, one comment only is made but in effect very symbolic: “We are not to limit (the word 'mourn') to penitence for sin". He goes on to say that one of the titles of the Messiah was Comforter. Clearly mourning here has a different meaning, sadness for sin, regret.

This leads to an even deeper dissonance, at least in contemporary usage, of the word mourn and the intention of the word used elsewhere as sad, tire, weep. Peake would have the word not only as repentant, but also those who mourn as those who are saddened in some way or other about life or their own failings, failures.

Again I pondered this and some time later in Lourdes the meaning became even clearer and why this Beatitude was given both first, and last. Today the faithful remnant suffers many trials and tribulations. In some countries there is overt persecution of the faithful leading to Martyrdom and torture. In other countries there is a desire to make religion a mere cultural experience, something rather quaint and old fashioned and that will eventually die of its own accord. Largely it is considered to be a nuisance for after all 'the intellectual’ understanding of today precludes the purveying of such nonsense as faith or an after life. Now we have knowledge after all we are so enlightened we know that God is a Myth. Then we have those who would use religion as a means to set people against each other, one denomination against the other, religion against religion all with evil intent. Then there are the basic verities of the purpose of faith and that is to always follow the Master and the matter of obedience to the moral code set in the New Covenant, an obedience to law and the Covenant of love of God and Man . We see laws that try to overturn this basic law of God and substitute it for a man made perception and interpretation all in the name of the State and the 'common good'. And all the while people grieve and people ‘mourn’ for they can do little to voice their disquiet.

There is now a deep sadness sometimes articulated sometimes held in the heart and unable to be voiced. There is now almost a' Cosmic Sadness' among people of good faith. There is a pain that and people weep for what is lost and seemingly cannot be replaced. There are the cries of parents for their Children and Children for something that can give hope in world of suffering. There is sadness. There is mourning for uprightness and purity.

But they shall be Comforted. The great Comforter the Holy Spirit will not abandon His People. The Father Son and Spirit with one voice will rescue their people and will cry 'Come those who are weary and we will give you rest. Blessed are they that are Sad for they shall be Comforted. Amen.

"Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of evil lies against you because you are my followers. Be happy and glad for a great reward is kept for you in Heaven. This is how the prophets who lived before you were persecuted".