Surrounded and Carried by the Church

Since my mother died suddenly March 17th, this is exactly what I and my family have experienced - surrounded and carried by the Church. At a time of deep sorrow the love of Christ and the consolation of his Holy Spirit enveloped us, reaching us through the food brought to the house, the visits at the funeral home and, above all, the prayers of the vigil and the liturgy of the funeral mass. It is wondrously true that the Church is the mystical Body of Christ. We encounter his love and mercy in and through His Church. Words really cannot express how much this truth has helped and consoled us.

Neither can they fully articulate the gratitude we feel for the many messages of comfort and remembrance, the telephone calls, and the visits. Allow me to take this opportunity to thank those of you who sent condolences to me and my family. They did, indeed, lift us up.

Now we unite with the Church in her eager anticipation of Holy Week, with its stunningly beautiful liturgical commemorations of the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus, the events by which He overcame death and gave life to the world. May the Lord's victorious love surround and carry all of us.