SacraMom.com

My dad and I just returned from a 22 hour road trip to sunny (but chilly) Indiana to celebrate my niece’s wedding. My 5 siblings and most of our kids traveled from all directions to systematically overtake the hotel lobby with our own brand of understated charism. 

We were all grateful for the opportunity to be together and healthy, far away from the ICU rooms we’ve become too accustomed to. Despite the challenges and heartbreak of the last few years, we remain a joyful bunch. There is a great deal of excitement and hope as we get to watch this next generation come into their own. The oldest wave of these 37 grandkids are embarking on beautiful journeys and there is plenty of interesting conversation regarding relationships, travel, and career aspirations. The first great-grandchild has joined the ranks and looks with eyes wide on the many people that love her. I want to be able to tell her how lucky she is to be born into this family, but she’ll find out soon enough. These nieces and nephews of mine have grown up to be wonderfully interesting people who have much to bring to the world, and watching them come together to celebrate the wedding of one of their cousins is nothing short of beautiful. The kids who used to chase their cozy coops around Granny and Grandpop’s deck are now giving toasts and saying vows. 

But even in the midst of so much joy and hope, these weekends remain difficult with Mom’s absence. She loved nothing more than having her family together, and if there was something to celebrate, that was even better. It’s a great consolation to know that she was with us in the breaking of the bread at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. As always, we could feel her presence as the veil was lifted and the bread and wine turned to Christ’s body and blood. We also knew she was with us in the details that have become part of her legacy – the songs she loved, her favorite cocktail, and her beautiful blue rosary, carried by the bride. Aside from the truth of the Resurrection, there was nothing Mom believed in more deeply than the call to marriage and family life. To see her kids and grandkids coming together to celebrate the best things in life is profoundly beautiful and makes our hearts ache as we miss her. 

But that’s the paradox of life with Christ. The goodness, the beauty, the suffering, the loss – it’s what love, and life, is all about. 

As the Bride and Groom promise to love each other in good times and in bad, the whole of salvation history is brought to light. The love proclaimed at the wedding mass is a perfect reflection of the love of God. A love full of sacrifice, mercy, and good fruit. God never promised us a favorable balance of good over bad, but He did promise us His everlasting love and the command to love like Him. 

If God had chosen to save us with a snap of his fingers instead of the sacrifice of His only son, we would have missed the opportunity to love this deeply. It is the freewill, the hardship, the suffering and the loss that makes these good days so remarkable. We get to see His goodness in the context of the eternal, catching just a glimpse of the glory that awaits us and the opportunity to bless the whole world by uniting our suffering to Christ’s. 

We thank God for the new couple, the life that awaits them, and the commitment to truth and goodness that brought us all to that church in Indiana this weekend. We thank God for the sacrifice of the Mass, the Eucharistic meal we shared to begin their journey, and we thank God for all he blessings of family that hold us together on the good days and the bad.