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The Readings

Lamentations 3.17-26

My soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness is;
so I say, ‘Gone is my glory,
and all that I had hoped for from the Lord.’

The thought of my affliction and my homelessness
is wormwood and gall!
My soul continually thinks of it
and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul,
‘therefore I will hope in him.’

The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul that seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.

John 14.1-3

Jesus said:
‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.

The Reflection
by Catherine, a Reader at St. Mary's

Bereavement is never easy. Bereavement in the time of a pandemic is especially difficult. And some of you here with us this evening or following online may be feeling this really keenly. The loved ones we were not able to be with during their final days and hours. Saying our goodbyes over video call or phone. The funerals we would have attended, the memories shared, the mutual support of hugs, or the conversations had with friends and family over food and drink. In-person attendance restricted to a select few people, with everyone else following via video link. Having to grieve alone. Yes, bereavement is especially difficult this year.

The opening verses of our reading from Lamentations may have resonated with you, echoed what you have been, or are still feeling inside.

“My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is…

The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall!
My soul continually thinks of it
and is bowed down within me”

Normal human feelings. Feelings of turmoil, feelings of loss, feelings of bitterness. Feelings expressed by an exiled people centuries ago and from a different place and culture. Feelings expressed in the Bible itself. And this in itself can be comforting. The stark reality of grief and loss is there in the Bible. It is not covered up or watered down. It is there in all its rawness.

And yet even in one of the Bible’s bleakest books, there is a flicker of light. The people have lost everything, but still just manage to call to mind what will give them hope in this bleakest of times:

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness”

You get the sense here of the people taking one day at a time, giving thanks for whatever little thing happens to be good that morning. This is not a quick fix to happiness. It won’t solve their immediate crisis. But it will sustain them until the next day. And then the next.

“The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul that seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.”

Sometimes in the midst of our grief all we can do is sit with the pain and wait. We may have no words. We may have no energy to act. Waiting is all we are capable of. And that is all OK.

It will be some time yet before we can fully celebrate the lives of those we have lost this year. It will be some time before we can freely gather with all our families and friends, hold each other physically, sing, cry and laugh together, then begin to build a new life. It’s a time of upheaval and uncertainty. Sometimes all we can do at the moment is wait. We don’t know what the future will bring. But in our reading from John’s gospel we have a glimpse of what it might look like. A house with many rooms, enough for everyone, past, present and future. Rooms that Christ himself will prepare for his friends. And his presence forever alongside us. Let us take hope from that.

Scripture Quotations are taken from: The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Prayers

Let us pray to the Lord, who has conquered death.