Death
Pulling Back the Curtain
It is easy for me to get caught up in the things that aren’t going well in my life and the lives of my loved ones. Not to mention the seemingly degradation of the world. In this morning’s meditation, Jeff Cavins said if we were to pull back the curtain between us and the spiritual […]
Beautiful Gestures
A friend of mine told me about some ways she is honoring loved ones. A friend of her’s mother passed away. Several months later, her friend contacted her and asked if she would like some of the religious items that the mom had accumulated. She gratefully accepted. One of the items was a statue of […]
The Afterlife
Unfortunately, my mom’s friend who I mentioned yesterday died this morning. I had a “feeling” about that this morning as I prayed a Divine Mercy Chaplet for her. Of course my mom was sad and we talked about our own mortality. She remembered that at one time, her brother died for a couple of minutes […]
One Year Anniversary
I can’t believe it has been one year since my dad died. In some ways it feels like forever – at other times it’s like yesterday. My mom and I have been anticipating this anniversary. I had scheduled the Mass to have him remembered today. We planned on going to church, then to lunch with […]
Family Reunited
My mom and I were talking about our neighbors’ grandson who was born premature, then got sick, but now is home. My mom talked about the baby that she had born premature. His lungs weren’t fully developed and unfortunately at that time, the medical professionals didn’t have the technology to treat infants born too early. […]
Exceptional Humility
Tonight we watched the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI. Of course it was attended by cardinals, bishops, priests, nuns, heads of state, and lay people. There has been a lot of talk the past few days of his great humility – particularly as he stepped down from his office realizing he was no longer able […]
Hope In Him
Today a friend shared her reflection on 2 Corinthians 5:8 “Yet we are courageous, and we would rather leave the body and go home to the Lord.” She wrote about how the scripture gave her hope after her grandmother died. I thought it was beautiful. Tonight I went to a grief support group. Part of […]
The Shadowbox
My brother hand made a beautiful shadowbox to display my dad’s military certificate, medals, epaulettes, photo, and flag. It was truly a labor of love. He had never done anything like that before, but a friend who had all the tools and knowledge helped him work it out. He brought it with him and showed […]
Can’t Run From Grief
Last night I went to the grief support group. One thought that struck me was that you can’t run away from grief. It will catch up to you one way or another. When I got home, I looked through the mail and saw a newsletter from the Hospice organization. The first article I came to […]
All Souls Mass
All Souls Day took on new meaning this year with the death of my dad. The church had a Mass dedicated specifically for those who died this past year. I brought a couple photos of my dad to the church. Mom picked out the one with him wearing his military uniform. One photo was fastened […]