A Prayer in Times of Loss

Jesus, you who wept at the death of your friend Lazarus, you know what loss means. You did not ask those who loved Lazarus to stop weeping; you wept with them. And now I am weeping, and you are with me. The weight of absence almost crushes me, but I hold your hand in this darkness. You are the resurrection and the life, and with you death is not the last word. I place in your hands the one I have lost and all that I have lost, and I trust in your goodness and mercy. Help me to grieve without despairing, and to remember without being frozen by it. Amen.