A Sunday Thought About Coincidences to Start the Week Off Right
It's just about one year ago that my cousin lost her beloved daughter. Now, almost exactly a year later, another cousin just said goodbye to her daughter. Coincidence?
Well, when I checked the definition of the word, I found this:
Of course, the death of loved ones presents problems to most of us when it comes to God's will. Why should my cousin - either last year or this - face the terrible tragedy of losing a child? I can respond with faith, hope and charity. Faith informs me that, indeed, we die when God calls us. While this remains a mystery, I pray for the grace to accept His will, even when a loved one dies. Hope, on the other hand, lifts up my heart and mind such that the knowledge that those who died in the state of grace will spend eternity in God's presence. This could happen at the moment of their death, or after some period of purification in Purgatory. Whichever way, though, eternal happiness beckons. As for charity, whatever degree of understanding God grants me of these profound truths, I persist in my prayers for those who died, and for those who loved them, thereby performing a Spiritual Act of Mercy (to pray for the living and the dead). And I perform a Corporal Act of Mercy (to bury the dead) by attending the deceased's wake, funeral Mass, and burial when possible.
Somehow, through it all, no matter how sad or otherwise difficult the circumstances of the passing of a loved one, I trust in God, I pray, "Thy Will be done." It's not always my natural reaction, and it's not always easy to do so. But by an act of will - which lies at the very center of real love - faith, hope, and charity guide and sustain my thoughts, words, and actions, even in the midst of the grief that envelopes us as we watch a loved one slip away.
And so that "coincidence" of my cousins' loss of a child, both last year and this, reveals, in the end, the eternal light of Truth, no matter how much or how little the mind can grasp it, no matter how difficult it may be for the heart to bear it. As we did after last year's terrible loss, we turn to a simple song that captures some of the feelings I think we all share at times like this. As we explained then, while the song is about someone looking forward to meeting "the one" meant for them some day, it might also be applied to my cousins and all of us whose loved ones have gone before us. Here again, the lovely "Dear Someone" performed by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings reminds us to look forward, in faith, hope, and love, to being with them again someday.
Well, when I checked the definition of the word, I found this:
"...a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection..."In the sense that we find no connection in this world between what happened to my two cousins, you could say the definition applies. Then again, we Catholics understand that there are really are no coincidences. We understand that everything happens according to God's will.
Of course, the death of loved ones presents problems to most of us when it comes to God's will. Why should my cousin - either last year or this - face the terrible tragedy of losing a child? I can respond with faith, hope and charity. Faith informs me that, indeed, we die when God calls us. While this remains a mystery, I pray for the grace to accept His will, even when a loved one dies. Hope, on the other hand, lifts up my heart and mind such that the knowledge that those who died in the state of grace will spend eternity in God's presence. This could happen at the moment of their death, or after some period of purification in Purgatory. Whichever way, though, eternal happiness beckons. As for charity, whatever degree of understanding God grants me of these profound truths, I persist in my prayers for those who died, and for those who loved them, thereby performing a Spiritual Act of Mercy (to pray for the living and the dead). And I perform a Corporal Act of Mercy (to bury the dead) by attending the deceased's wake, funeral Mass, and burial when possible.
Somehow, through it all, no matter how sad or otherwise difficult the circumstances of the passing of a loved one, I trust in God, I pray, "Thy Will be done." It's not always my natural reaction, and it's not always easy to do so. But by an act of will - which lies at the very center of real love - faith, hope, and charity guide and sustain my thoughts, words, and actions, even in the midst of the grief that envelopes us as we watch a loved one slip away.
And so that "coincidence" of my cousins' loss of a child, both last year and this, reveals, in the end, the eternal light of Truth, no matter how much or how little the mind can grasp it, no matter how difficult it may be for the heart to bear it. As we did after last year's terrible loss, we turn to a simple song that captures some of the feelings I think we all share at times like this. As we explained then, while the song is about someone looking forward to meeting "the one" meant for them some day, it might also be applied to my cousins and all of us whose loved ones have gone before us. Here again, the lovely "Dear Someone" performed by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings reminds us to look forward, in faith, hope, and love, to being with them again someday.
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