Faith in times of Hardship

Posted by Molly

I attended a funeral recently where the priest who gave the homily was a close friend of the deceased and he had a really difficult time getting through it. In my 41 years I've been to more funerals than I would have liked and I have always wondered how the priests keep it together during such a sad time. I assumed God just gave them the strength to be strong for everyone else. But at this funeral, God let the priest show who he really was....a man who had lost his friend and was really sad. It was heartbreaking but also really beautiful.

Last week I received the news that a close friend of mine with three small children, one of them just 10 months old, has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She is only 39 years old. On February 8th she will undergo a double mastectomy in hopes of getting all the cancer out in one shot. This girl is a great friend. A strong Catholic. And she's Irish so you know she has that fight in her that only the Irish have - God bless us, right? If anyone can beat this it's Chrissy but I still can't help but wonder - why does she need to have to go through this at all? Why did God give this challenge to a woman who lives her life right and has three innocent little people who depend on her? What is He thinking?

And that's where my problem is.

At the funeral I mentioned before, even though he was obviously in deep mourning himself, the priest talked about how the mistake most of us make during times of great sorrow is asking "why God?". Because He always has a reason. And there is no way we could understand his almighty plan so it is really a waste of time to try to figure it out. Instead, in times of hardship and sorrow this is when we need to rely on the gift that we have all been given as Catholics: Faith. The belief in something that cannot be seen or proven. Faith is what gets us through.

So instead of cursing God, I am thanking him for giving me the opportunity to help my friend through a difficult time and reminding me to cherish my own health and my own family every day because it could all be gone in a moment.

I have faith that Chrissy will get through this but a couple of extra prayers never hurt.
If you could keep her in yours it would mean so much to me.