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SUBJECT: The death of a loved one

The death of a loved one is a painful experience. The pain is multiplied when the loved one is so young. "In Rama, there was a voice heard, lamentation and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children because they are not" (Matthew 2:18). Today, other parents cry; we join them in their grief. Daniel and Elena, please accept our sympathy, and know that our prayers are with you.

Human sympathy is a good thing; Divine compassion is better. In Jesus Christ, our Lord, the two are joined. At the tomb of Lazarus, our Lord wept with such passion that the bystanders must say, "Behold, how He loved him" (John 11:36). His human sympathy was real and deep and obvious. But His compassion was more than human. It was also Divine. For in Jesus Christ, God entered the human race to "bear our griefs and carry our sorrows" (Isaiah 53:4).

Because He is Man, He knows the full range of human feeling--from the fullness of joy to the emptiness of bereavement.

Because He is God, He is able to support us in our deepest losses. Even the loss of a dear child.

Therefore, we can "Cast our burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain us; He shall never allow the righteous to be moved"(Psalm 55:22).

At a time like this, where else would we go? Where else can we go? He "has the words of eternal life" (John 6:68). Like the disciples of John the Baptist, therefore, let us "bury the dead and go and tell Jesus" (Matthew 14:12).

God bless the Flores family. God bless us all, for Christ's sake. Amen.