Grief – and hope

Of necessity we must be sorrowful when those whom we love leave us in death. Although we know that they have not left us behind forever but only gone ahead of us, still when death seizes our loved ones, our loving hearts are saddened by death itself. Thus the apostle Paul does not tell us not to grieve but ‘Not to grieve like those who are without hope.’ Let us grieve, therefore, over the necessity of losing our loved ones in death but with the hope of being reunited with them.
If we are afflicted, we still find consolation. Our weakness weighs us down but faith bears us up. We sorrow over the human condition but find our healing in the divine promise.

Sermon 172, 1