May 19, 2023, Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter, Holy Rosary (Sorrowful Mysteries)

The death of a beloved family member or friend is one of the saddest events imaginable. It’s a cause of sorrow and tears. This is a natural feeling as we are still earthly beings. But death is not the end; it is, rather, the beginning.

Yesterday’s feast—the Ascension of our Lord in his human nature—to his Father’s and our Father’s home is a joyful confirmation that life is eternal.

We will all rise from the grave with new, glorified bodies and ascend to heaven, as Christ did. There, we’ll begin our true life of eternal happiness.

We have the certainty that our beloved ones have gone to their true life and will be there to meet us when our turn comes. This thought, always at the back of our minds, consoles, and comforts us.

All human beings want to live on forever with our dear ones. Death breaks that continuity, but only for a little while. That break precedes a new life.