He was a young boy, not yet sixteen. During try outs for the high school basketball team, he felt ill. As he waited to get a drink of water, he collapsed and soon his young life was over. Too soon. His name was Jose and he was a sophomore in high school. His life tragically cut short. Left were his friends, his family, his teachers, to deal with a loss that could not be explained, could not be comprehended. Why?
This is a question that we as humans have pondered through the centuries. Why do loved ones have to die? Why are loved ones taken way from us, sometimes before we even realize the full extent of ow they have affected our lives and our hearts. Why? And yet, after all these years of questioning, there is no answer.
The only solace we can find in these times, in these feelings, in this hurt, in this emptiness, is in faith. Faith allows us to at least grasp for hope. The hope that one day we will be united in an eternal life with the loved ones we have lost. For without faith, is life worth living. Without faith,our dearest ones are lost forever.
Some may say there is no God. Some may say that if God existed, this would not be allowed to happen. But if we follow this way of thinking, we have no hope, o real future, only a journey to the end. But Jesus taught of a different ending. Jesus showed us a different ending, the followers saw and understood a different ending. And I, as a Catholic, as a Christian, as a believer refuse to accept that there is nothing after this life.
Jose was my student and I saw in him a life, a love, a personality so unique, that there is no doubt in my mind that that energy, that life force, that soul of Jose's could never just cease to exist. I saw the same in my niece, Laura and in my dad. How can that just disappear.
I thank God for my faith, because it makes my life worth living and gives me the solace of knowing that all those whom I have loved and have become a part of who I am, will reunite with me.
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