Episode Transcript  

One

Mourning Over Jerusalem

One thing about Jesus we might sometimes forget: He really loved His own nation, His own people. He loved Jerusalem as a man, because as a man, He was Jewish. And He loved Jerusalem as God, because as God He had chosen Israel for His special people, through whom He would launch the salvation of the world.

It’s because Jesus loved Jerusalem so much that He was so heartbroken over her. Because, spiritually, Jerusalem was broken. And before long, it would be broken physically, too.

So one day, He gave expression to His sadness. He mourned over Jerusalem, with these words, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times I yearned to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her young under her wings, but you were unwilling. Behold, your house will be abandoned and desolate.”

His beloved city was spiritually broken and would, within a generation, be physically demolished by the Romans. And so He mourned. And so should we mourn too, when good things are spiritually broken.

Two

Mourning Our Sins

We should mourn when good things are broken because of sin. And nowhere is that more tragic than in the case of what sin does to our character. Sin devastates the soul the way an invading army pillages a city. Sin devours our energies the way soldiers plunder the resources of the defeated. Sin defiles our thoughts the way the hordes violate the innocent. Sin enslaves our desires, the way the inhabitants are taken off into captivity. And sin weakens the whole infrastructure of our souls, the way invaders smash through the roads and buildings of a taken town.

Think back to the days of your innocence, if you can remember them. The time when you could actually appreciate a woman’s beauty, instead of just lust. The time when you could hear something good said about someone else, and not feel the impulse to top it or undermine it. The time when you could be still and silent without being anxious. Think of the nobility of your faculties, your intellect, made for clear thinking. Your will, made for heroism. Your passions, made for a depth of feeling to give you and others strength. 

Look at how damaged those faculties are, how weak and narrow and unreliable. Sin did that. You did that. You can mourn for that. You should mourn for that. 

Three

Mourning for the Crucified Christ

In the book of Lamentations, the prophet not only mourns for Jerusalem, but also speaks words that foreshadow the crucified Lord, “Come, all you who pass by the way, look and see whether there is any suffering like my suffering, which has been dealt me when the Lord afflicted me on the day of his blazing wrath… I am a man who knows affliction, from the rod of his anger, One whom he has led and forced to walk in darkness, not in light, against me alone he brings back his hand again and again, all the day. He has worn away my flesh and my skin…” (Lam. 1:12; 3:1-3).

Because, of course, the fall of Jerusalem and the sins of our hearts are related to the sufferings of Christ. The leaders of His Chosen people, the priests themselves, were the authors of Christ’s death, as were the sins of every one of us. 

So mourn for Christ, tortured and killed. The most common form of human mourning is mourning over the death of a loved one. Even after the pure onslaught of grief has passed, when a loved one dies, especially if it was a tragic death, you never fully recover.

Well, Christ has died. Do we love Him? Can we mourn for His tragic death, a death for which we are responsible? We’re Christians. Our default attitude should be joy. But there are times when we should be sad. And when we look at the cross, and think of what they, and we, did to that poor man.

The way they took Him apart like barbarians take captured towns apart. The way they disfigured Him, the way sin debases the Church and the family and the soul. We can occasionally take some time to mourn for that. We should occasionally take some time to mourn for that.

Four

Brokenness Will Not Have the Last Word

Christian mourning, even though it’s real, is different than other mourning. Because we know that Christ arose, that the mourners at the tomb were surprised to find Him alive. And the old Jerusalem was resurrected in the Catholic Church; and the sinful Catholic Church will be resurrected in the glorious Heavenly Jerusalem foreseen in Revelation. And the havoc wrought by our sin, the Lord can restore that, too.

Throughout the Book of Lamentations, the theme of hope still runs on, “The favors of the Lord are not exhausted, his mercies are not spent; They are renewed each morning, so great is his faithfulness. My portion is the Lord, says my soul; therefore will I hope in him… Lead us back to you, O Lord, that we may be restored: give us anew such days as we had of old” (Lam. 3:22-24; 5:21).

Jesus lamented over Jerusalem, but His death will bring Jerusalem back to life. As we grieve over what sin has done to Christ and to our world, let the grief be sweetened by the knowledge of God’s boundless mercy and creative restoration of all that has been broken.

Five

Blessed are those who mourn

In the Beatitudes, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, they shall be comforted.” 

The greatest example is the Prodigal Son. Think of what happens, the young man turns away from his father, chasing illusions. He becomes enslaved by his own sinful choices. Hitting rock bottom, he reflects honestly on his life. He is not happy in his sin. This reflection brings sorrow, not just regret for his suffering, but sorrow for his sin. And this mourning, this sadness, moves him to repentance and his return home.

These are the steps of blessed mourning: We all turn away from God through sin. Honest reflection shows sin didn’t make us happy and at peace, it left us empty and restless. This awakens a true sorrow in our hearts. That sorrow prompts us to return to the Father who waits for us with mercy in the sacrament of Reconciliation.

So, whether it has been one month or thirty years, you don’t have to carry the weight of your guilt any longer. God the Father is ready to relieve you of that heavy burden today through Jesus, who is hiding behind the face of the priest in confession. Don’t carry that weight any longer, it’s time to get rid of it. 

Suggested Resolutions:

Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you.

• This week, spend time reflecting on the Crucified Christ. In your examination of conscience, spend time reflecting on how your sins have wounded Christ.

• Return to confession, whether it’s been a long time or a short one, knowing that God is always waiting for his prodigal children.

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