Ascension : News From The Grotto - Thought For The Week
Submitted by The Islander (Islander Editors) 15.12.2011 (Article Archived on 29.12.2011)

Today, I admit, was one of the tougher homilies to write. While we are celebrating the third Sunday of Advent, and Christmas draws ever nearer, my family marks one of the saddest anniversaries of all.

“..to bind up hearts that are broken.”

Today, I admit, was one of the tougher homilies to write.  While we are celebrating the third Sunday of Advent, and Christmas draws ever nearer, my family marks one of the saddest anniversaries of all.  It has been one year since my nephew and his wife lost their precious little baby Riley.

Riley’s life was predestined to be short.  He was born with a broken little heart that despite the efforts of the best surgeons in the country, could not be fixed.  At first, we lived with the hope of a cure, but it was soon too sadly apparent this was not to be, and we had to live with the knowledge that his time among us would be too brief.  His parents and brother and sister and grandparents and all those who loved him had to watch as he faded away from them. 

But in his short time, Riley taught us lessons in hope, love, faith, the power of prayer and the need to lean on each other in the times that rend our hearts asunder.  The prayers and support that his family received during his illness and his death and continue to receive, especially on this most painful first anniversary of his passing, are proof of God’s love and teachings at work.

In our century, where life expectancy is into the seventies, and we all know so many people even older than that, the life of Jesus was short.  But what He accomplished in the years He walked this earth are amazing.  He gave us God’s teaching, faith and love in the witness of His life and His death.  His life was predestined to be shorter than it should have been.  His death and resurrection were written in the prophecies.  Nothing could change it. 

So as our celebration of the birth of Jesus grows ever closer, and we celebrate the coming of our Saviour, let us not forget to contemplate the future.  Let us celebrate the past, and know that our time on this earth could be cut short at any moment.  For some it is predestined and known, but for the rest of us, we do not know the hour that God will call us home.  As the adage says, “Live every day as if it is your last, for one day it will be”.

Let us not wallow in petty disputes, waste time lamenting what we do not have or get absorbed in getting ahead simply for the purpose of feeling better than someone else.  Let us live our life with hope, joy, faith, humanity, humility, and a heart that will absorb some of the pain that our loved ones are suffering.  Let our faith lighten their load, ease their pain, and share their sorrow.  A burden shared is a burden lightened.

As we move ever closer to the anniversary of the day our world was changed for the better, let us spare a moment to pray for all those whose lives have been changed for the worse.  May our prayers reach God’s ears, and may He send His comfort and grace to rain upon them, and bring some peace to their hearts. 

May God bless our special little angel on this day and always.  May He hold our little Riley in His arms, and may He bless all of us as we remember those we have loved and lost.

Rest in peace always, Beautiful Blue Eyes.