We need time alone—not just to grieve but also to rest. It’s normal to think we have to keep going. There are people who need us. Things that must be done. Responsibilities that don’t stop just because our hearts have been broken. Other people may not even realize how exhausted we are because grief isn’t always something they can see. … More Has Grief Made You Tired? Take a Restful Boat Ride with Jesus
Earthly death is not the end of the story. Jesus promised that he was preparing a place for us in his kingdom (John 14:1-3). It is essential for those of us who grieve to remember this promise so as not to fall into despair or despondency. I believe in this promise. This promise is our hope – the hope that keeps us forging forward despite all the pain and suffering we live through since we believe that a better life awaits us. … More Death Does Not Have the Final Word
When we do what Father God designed us to do, we experience joy. Joy in the midst of grief happens when we accept the changing of wineskins from old to new. It doesn’t get rid of the grief but it does mean that we are trusting God and His plans for our future. … More Receiving God’s New Wine After Loss
I know how I feel when I have been crying for days and am emotionally drained. I picture Mary Magdalene, exhausted from watching the Man who changed her life be brutally murdered. I’m sure she got little to no sleep the night before. Her eyes were probably swollen from crying. Her shoulders likely sagged under the weight of grief. Every step toward the tomb must have felt heavy. … More What St. Mary Magdalene Teaches Us About Loving Through Grief
For the Christian, there is no need to separate the grief from the joy. The same hands can hold both joy and grief simultaneously. That is what it means to be, as John Paul II said, “an Easter people”. But he didn’t say that famous line during Easter. He said it in a papal address in November. Easter is not limited to a day or even a Church season. There is no “this, then that,” or suffering then not suffering. But there is always hope in suffering because the Messiah suffered, too. … More An Easter People: Carrying the Joy and Hope of the Resurrection Through All of Life’s Challenges
A flower. A levee. A stable full of straw. God does not require elaborate settings or polished prayers. He requires only an open heart — and sometimes, He sends someone to help us open it. … More She Caught Up With Me: A Guided Meditation on Grief, Mary, and the God Who Waits
After Nancy left, the silence was deafening. I sharply felt the absence of Ralph in every silent moment. I turned on the television or music to stop from hearing the silence. To this day, more than two years since God took Ralph, I still haven’t fully recovered the joy of silence. … More When the Silence is Deafening, How Can You Pray?
Snags look like they do not belong because…well, they do not belong. They are the contingency. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that God reveals Himself to us through Sacred Scripture and through creation. Paul wrote “Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made.” … More On Snags and the Spiritual Life
Sometimes, being childless just seems to come about by happenstance. While desiring to get married, many people have simply not found a soul mate to share the rest of their lives with; they thus live a life of celibacy in accordance with their moral and religious beliefs and are consequently childless. They still retain the ingrained instinct of nurturing which will need to be expressed in ways other than actual childrearing. … More Nurturing Without Children: Finding Fulfillment in Caretaking
One of the hardest parts of grief is realizing your emotional bandwidth has changed. You may want to attend the graduation party, family reunion, church picnic, neighborhood cookout, or weekend trip. But wanting to and being able to are not always the same thing. … More Summer Feels Different When You’re Grieving