Forty-Four Years

If there was ever a motivation to try to live one’s life in accordance with God’s law – loving Him, meditating daily on His passion and death, seeking the Truth for He IS Truth, honoring His Most Blessed Mother for no man could love her more than He Himself does, staying confessed, and praying minute by minute to remain faithful to Him in one’s state in life… If there was such a motivation it might be this.

I want to see my twin sister again.

I want to learn all about heaven from her.

I want to see all the instances where her prayers prevented me from evil and where they motivated me to good.

I want to say hello to her even though in the confusion of the moment we never said goodbye.

Sunday, February 1st at 2 AM ET marks 44 years since I last saw her. We were four years-old. Our home was engulfed in flames. In His Providence, God saw fit that my guardian angel should direct me into the arms of our older sister. In His Providence, He saw fit to shepherd my twin sister to her eternal reward. And two days later, our six year-old brother. And two days after that our ten year-old brother.

Years later I would read something that Fulton Sheen wrote that put it in perspective.

(Paraphrasing but not much): “Sometimes, the Good Shepherd will remove the littlest lamb(s) from the flock and carry it up to the top of the hill to greener pastures. He does this not because he is spiting the other sheep. He does this so that they will set their gaze on top of the hill and follow.”

May God bless you all and please stay confessed. You know not the day nor the hour.

And please keep two people in your prayers today – my dear mom who endured so much and still continues to share her warmth, love, and deep Catholic faith at the age of 88, who has outlived her husband and three more adult sons; and my sister Susan whom the Holy Ghost used that dark night to save the lives of her younger brothers and sisters. She broke half the bones in her body that night. Without her, these words don’t exist. And without their example, the faith would not live in me.