Lent is here

"In the end, forever, you and I will be in Heaven or Hell. Period."--- Father Corapi

The most solemn and yet joyful liturgical times of the year is upon us…Lent.
It is solemn in that our Lord Jesus suffered and died a torturous and cruel death.
The Creator was killed by His creations (as Bishop Fulton Sheen put it).

It is joyful in that because of His death and resurrection, we may obtain eternal life.
Satisfaction and ultimate joy FOREVER.

It seems that this year during Lent, there are several people that I know whom are
going through tough times, many of which whom have very sick or dying family members.
I, unfortunately am not good when it comes to these matters, as I don’t deal with
death very well either. Even if I am sure that these people will be in Heaven with
Jesus, the grief and the emotions of my humanity are strong enough to make me despair in the thought of having to wait till our death to be with them again.

A good meditation that has come to me this Lenten season, is the fact that
these loved ones could have the contentment of offering up their pain, suffering, or loss
with that of Jesus’ Passion. Suffering, sacrificing, praying, and asking His forgiveness for our sins, all the while knowing that He is there, hurting with us.
We can ask Jesus to help us carry our cross, knowing that He has done it before.
We can ask Jesus to heal us, knowing that He has done it before.
We can ask Jesus for mercy, knowing that He has given it to us before.
We can ask Jesus to give us His peace, knowing that His peace will be with us.

While the burdens in life are still hard, and the loss of lives still make us hurt through our hearts, we can always know that Jesus is with us through it all, and will make all anew again…..or as Bishop Sheen said;
you can’t have a rainbow without the rain….