Bereavement Service 2007

Among the opening sentences of most christian funeral services, are the words of Jesus: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

On the face of it, a strange thing to say – strange words. But, our mourning is not futile. It is not meaningless. It is not a wild cry of despair in the dark. It is Jesus himself who gives significance to all our sorrows. “I will not leave you bereft,” said Jesus, “because I live, you too will live.”

We mourn for those whom we love – our mourning is a sign of our love. We are privileged to have had that which is most precious in human life; and our mourning signifies our privilege. Grief is the price we pay for human love. Those who have never loved will never grieve. Their hearts can never be broken. They are the most deprived people on earth. They have missed that which makes life worthwhile. “How blessed are those who mourn.” This is why our experience at this time is “bittersweet”. Our sorrow in parting reflects our joy in being together.

This is a “bittersweet” occasion. We are thankful for the person we honour, but sore at our loss. The one reflects the other. But we do not mourn as those who are without hope; for the many waters of death cannot quench love. Love is stronger than death. Love abides for ever. All partings are painful. When Jesus was preparing his disciples for the time when he would be taken away from them, he said that he was going to prepare a place for them. “And if I go,” he said, “I shall come again to take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also.”

So we pray today that all who have walked beside us through life, whom we love but see no longer, whose presence we miss, whose memory we treasure; who have been taken from us by death, have been taken by our Lord to be with him where death is no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow. And, we pray for one another “I will not leave you bereft,” said Jesus, “because I live, you too will live.”

Come to the assistance of our loved ones, All you Saints of God! Meet them, you Angels of the Lord.
Receive their souls, and present them to the Most High.
May Christ who called them, receive them; and may the Angels lead them into the bosom of Abraham.

Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord,
And let light perpetual shine upon them.

May the souls of the faithfully departed through the mercy of God rest in peace,
And rise in Glory. Amen.