A text message came to me the other day from a family member, and it was the kind of text that makes your heart skip a beat: "Please call me." The text catches you a bit off guard. Immediately, you begin to think, "I hope everything is okay." Calling from Israel can be a challenging thing to do. You need to find a good wireless connection and you need to take into account the time difference (we are 8 hours ahead of Central Standard Time).
I said a prayer, and made the call via Skype. The news as I feared was not good. A young man, a close friend of my relative, had suddenly passed away. I could hear the sadness, the anguish in his voice as he told me what little he knew about the death. Suddenly, I wanted to be home. I wanted to be there physically to help my family as they tried to make sense of this sudden loss. I felt helpless for a moment. Then, I offered to pray for this young man's soul, for his family members, and for all of his friends.
During our pilgrimage, even though we are separated by thousands of miles, we can still be united with you in prayer. I was able to offer a prayer for the young man who died at the Holy Sepulcher. We had a special Mass inside the tomb of Christ, in the very place where Jesus rose from the dead, and in that place I prayed for the soul of the young man who died and for all of those mourning his loss.
We have been so blessed to be here, to see all of these holy sites, and to have the opportunity to pray for you all. We thank you for your support during our time away. Please know that you continue to be in our daily prayers.
Thank you and our prayers are with you all. So sorry about your friend. My prayers are with him also.
ReplyDelete