Dying Catholic without a Catholic Mass or Burial
On Our Knees, Looking Up in Pain
Eileen Renders
Most of us have lived at some point in our lives when we felt invincible. We were moving in the direction and reaching goals that were most important to us. Then something goes terribly wrong. We have lost sight of our goals; we were hurt, dethroned, and felt terribly alone. Family and friends may not have extended any empathy for how hard we had fallen.
This may be that particular time when we simply fell to our knees, and hard. There is nowhere to look but up! God succeeded in gaining our attention. This is not a punishment, oh no, this is through prayers from those who continued to love us and God’s relentless pursuit of bringing us back into the fold. He is the Good Shepherd.
Perhaps we were moving in a direction that was selfish, proud, and unaware, or uncaring of how we had hurt others. Now we were looking up to our Creator and asking for help and forgiveness. How could this be a negative experience? Of course it is not! When our sorrow and regret are sincere, God forgives and reaches out to help us up and back once again on the path back to humility and righteousness!
Prayer is powerful, God is merciful! We have learned that there is nothing in this world that can ever take precedence over the eternity that is promised to those who love Him and live by His Commandments. From this experience, and from this time forward, hopefully, we will make amends to those we have hurt and live in the love of Christ!