June 27, 2025
Years after someone we love has died, a memory will come to life, reminding us of a kindness or lesson or loving moment we may have forgotten. This is a grace from God, assuring us that everything is all right and giving us a belated opportunity to say, “Thank you,” “I love you” and “I can’t wait to see you again.”
Gina, for example, has a deep devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
"I am very devoted to the Sacred Heart,” she says. “I want to become closer to Jesus and make him known to others…Jesus is my brother, my friend, my everything, and I want everyone to know about him.”
When asked when she got this love, she pauses and says, “My mother.” Then, she tells how her mother planted “a mustard seed” of faith in her that grew enormously. However, her mother died when Gina was only 6. To this day, she treasures those memories of her mother teaching her prayers and about Jesus’ infinite love.
Barbara still remembers the Sunday mornings that she would drive her mother and her friends — all in their 90s — to Mass at Holy Rosary Church, and then how their weekly routine was disrupted when the church closed and they had to find somewhere else for Sunday Mass. A kind deacon at St. Margaret Shrine befriended her mother, and the group began going there.
Barbara still recalls, “I felt empty after my mother passed.” The wonderful practice of going to church together is such a bittersweet memory. However, she found solace in her new faith community at the shrine. Was her mother providing consolation from Heaven?
It’s never too late to say thank you to the ones we love.
©J Pisani
***
Sign Up for Healing Journey Messages
Receive a daily message to your email address.