Rochester, MN UCC - "Blessed" - Matthew 5:1-12

 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." - Matthew 5:5

Our world doesn't leave much space for grief. Grief is treated as a private thing, that we only show publicly for a few days after death until the funeral is over.  It's not enough. Since COVID, how we gather in those few days after death has really changed. Funerals have gotten much smaller than they were before. Often, we don't have a funeral for weeks or months after the death, fundamentally changing how and when we grieve communally. Grief isn't fun, no one enjoys going to a funeral but it's part of the human experience and we are not meant to grieve alone.

 It's because of these changes, that I value our All Saints Service so much. One of the things Church gets to do is to be a blessing to those who mourn. We don't hide from grief, rather we acknowledge it and offer comfort. This Sunday, we will say the names of those in our community who have died this year and honor our grief, remembering our ultimate hope in Jesus who defeated death and calls us to him in eternity.

Pastor Shannon Smith