3 “Happy are people who are hopeless, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
4 “Happy are people who grieve, because they will be made glad.
Reflection
We turn to God to give us comfort and hope.
Are we feeling hopeless and are we mourning right now? Another translation states “poor in
spirit.” Sometimes we feel that the state of things is rather hopeless and so the only thing to do is mourn what should be. Especially if we watch the news. It is very sad to see the natural
disasters and wars and horrible things that people are doing to each other. We are promised
the kingdom of heaven and to feel glad out of hopelessness and grieving. Is that in the distance or is that now? Can we remember what God has done for us and continues to do in our lives?
We try to shield our children from those things that are sad, but we can’t keep them from
everything – people and pets die, they lose toys that they love, friends make them sad or move way – mourning is part of this life for all of us. As we get older we are aware of more and more losses – loved ones dying, job loss, loss of relationships, and the list goes on. One of the things about mourning is that what we lost was a blessing to us or we wouldn’t be sad. We lost a loved one – we loved that person and cherish the time with them, miss their laugh and all of those good things about having them in our lives. It is a cliché’, but it is true to better have loved and lost than not to have loved. Those that we love enrich us in so many ways. We are meant to be in relationship. In these times, it is very difficult to not feel hopeless about our life without that person, but that is where our faith comes in. We know we can rely on God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to guide us in these times. Yes, we will be sad, but we know there is hope with God. We turn to God to give us comfort and hope,
We can also be feeling hopeless about the world in general right now, but God challenges us to be a light in the world – the verses after the beatitudes remind us we are the salt and light of the world- we are to let our light shine as best as we can to show our faith to others so that
they may also feel some hope.
by Janet Waryck
For Pondering and Prayer
Thoughts: What are you in mourning or feeling hopeless about these days? What do you need
from God or from those around you to remind you that God will comfort you and show you
that the Holy Spirit is present with you at all times?
Prayer: God of comfort, you know we mourn for the loss of loved ones, for the loss of stability,
for the loss of any number of things. Please give us the knowledge that you are there so we do not lose our faith or feel hopeless. Please lead us to be a light to others in their time of
mourning and uncertainty. In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.