Encouraged
We have had six funerals the last couple of weeks. The gospel of the beatitudes is often chosen as the preferred gospel at the funeral service. There is a sense of peace with the words “Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
Funerals represent the complexity of our lives. We have the emotions of missing a loved person no longer with us. There are various family dynamics, some good, some not so good. Sometimes family agree with the arrangements, sometimes not. Sometimes the deceased has made all the arrangements. Unfortunately, there are some funerals were there are no surviving family members. Some family members can make the funeral service, others, for various reasons cannot. A funeral is for the family to come together and pray for the repose of the soul of their loved ones. We are to also pray for ourselves, hoping to be reunited one day in heaven.
But for all of us we are blessed with the God of encouragement. No matter what affliction we may be suffering, God is there to relieve our suffering. We can endure our sufferings just as His Son endured the pain of the cross. We are given the virtue of hope, knowing if God is there for His Son, He will certainly be there for us as the God of encouragement. Let us encourage each other today with kindness and love.
May the Lord bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen