Saturday Night

Tonight we had Catholic Underground North at our church. Its a beautifully spiritual Holy Hour with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament ,night prayer,and Benediction.We hesitated about going, but are so glad we did. Although we cried, we received great strength sitting in front of Jesus. We had some healing through prayer and song, we clung to each other, but we were embraced by the ones we love so dearly. The people of our parish family, our Msgr. our sisters our deacon,our friends all held us up and tonight and for the first time in weeks I laughed. It felt so good to feel some happiness, and its because we were always happy, always in love with each other and so the grief is just as strong. At some point we need to feel what is normal for us and that is gratefulness and joy. Our God is a loving God, he does not do things to hurt us, he is our shelter and protection.Our trust has not changed because of our pain, and I hope for all of you who read this you find that healing as well. We live with Hope, Faith and Love. I wonder how all of you are doing that joined the faith journey back on Sept 9th, are you still praying...seeking....trusting? If we can do this faced with the greatest loss of our life then I ask you to pick up your cross as well and embrace it. Perhaps through God's grace we can all help each other carry the crosses we have to lighten the burden.Never forget that the cross you are given can enrich and transform your life if you let God help you. My father told me a story when I was a teenager and thought I had so much pressure in my life. He said" Jesus is standing in front of a door, you could go up to him and exchange the cross you have for another one. Of course I said fine, I would like to change my cross for another. "Go inside" Jesus said "and put your cross down and pick up one that suits you", I put down my cross and started to pick up other crosses, they all seemed much heavier than mine, finely I found one and walked toward the door to Jesus...this cross suits me, he said "ok then you take that one, but that is the cross you came in with." Our crosses in life are meant for our spiritual growth, if used wisely we can become better human beings and hopefully gain the entrance to the kingdom of heaven.
May God's love embrace your heart now and forever
http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=KLLD6LNX