Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

Finding strength in Scripture and Tradition

We have been given unlimited hope through the teachings of our faith, even if sorrow can obscure their power for a while. Our church community, ever ready to support us in love, offers much to help with grief not only in its teachings but also through Scripture and the many prayers gathered over our long Tradition.

Turning to passages from Scripture during a time of grieving can provide solace and a renewed perspective. One such passage is from the Gospel of John. Jesus is quoted directly as saying, “I will not leave you orphans.” As followers of Christ, we can first start to heal from loss by knowing we have not been abandoned in our sorrow. The next line is still more affirming, “I will come to you.” This is the promise of the Holy Spirit to be sent from God, the Father. We will be given the grace to continue our journey alive in faith. This does not mean that it is always easy or that we will cease to experience hard times. Perhaps three of the most remarkable words written in Scripture are those about Jesus himself when he was told of the death of his friend Lazarus, “And Jesus wept.” In becoming one of us, he knew about human suffering and its toll on our spirit. But everything he did pointed back to God, the Father, and the power of love.

In the crises we endure throughout our lives, faith allows us to see new beginnings beyond our present anxieties. Dealing with the death of a loved one has to be the greatest crisis anyone can face, but we have been taught that there is life after death. Not only are we not abandoned by God, but we are promised a new life beyond the one we know. Through the death and resurrection of God’s Son, our salvation has been assured. The ancient Nicene Creed gives voice to the outcome we proclaim together, “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” We know our true home is with God. This is a deep yearning for all who have been baptized in Christ. As Saint Paul asserts, “We would rather leave the body and go home to the Lord” (2 Cor 5:8).

This is the promised glory of our faith, that return to God, which also will reunite us with loved ones who have gone home to God before us. In grief, we need to embrace this altered reality from what we can see to what we can believe past the limits of our physical vision. We walk by faith, not by sight. Our love for another transcends this world, enduring beyond what may seem like the longest separation, and their love for us continues. Surely, we grieve because we have loved.