St. Augustine Sermon 172,1

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 one,
our loving hearts are saddened by death itself.
Thus the apostle Paul does not tell us not to grieve
but
“not to give 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 weights us down,
but faith bears us up.
We sorrow over the human condition,
but find our healing in the divine promise.