This week, we’ll walk through the echoes of Isaiah 12, finding reassurance in the Lord's triumphant love that remains our beacon, even in the darkest moments of despair.
As we wander the labyrinth of bereavement, we will consider the importance of looking not just ahead, but also turning our gaze backwards, where a tapestry woven from memories with our departed, the touchstones of our shared history, and the bedrock of our faith await us. We will embrace the idea that the love we experience on Earth is merely a prelude to the full symphony of God's eternal love and find strength in the shared pillars of our faith and memories.
Be sure to subscribe to this podcast on Google Podcasts, Apple, Amazon Music, Spotify, or follow us on the Facebook pages of Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Los Altos, California, or Calvary Cemetery in San Jose, California. SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE
You can reach us at: ccoutreach@dsj.org To arrange personal spiritual direction: 408-359-5542
Our theme music is: Gentle Breeze by Yeti Music from the album "Uppbeat". Additional Music and sound effects today by: via Pixabay
This week, we’ll walk through the echoes of Isaiah 12, finding reassurance in the Lord's triumphant love that remains our beacon, even in the darkest moments of despair.
As we wander the labyrinth of bereavement, we will consider the importance of looking not just ahead, but also turning our gaze backwards, where a tapestry woven from memories with our departed, the touchstones of our shared history, and the bedrock of our faith await us. We will embrace the idea that the love we experience on Earth is merely a prelude to the full symphony of God's eternal love and find strength in the shared pillars of our faith and memories.
Be sure to subscribe to this podcast on Google Podcasts, Apple, Amazon Music, Spotify, or follow us on the Facebook pages of Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Los Altos, California, or Calvary Cemetery in San Jose, California. SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE
You can reach us at: ccoutreach@dsj.org To arrange personal spiritual direction: 408-359-5542
Our theme music is: Gentle Breeze by Yeti Music from the album "Uppbeat". Additional Music and sound effects today by: via Pixabay
Candee Lucas:
Welcome to this week's episode of Solace. Soul + Grief. I'm Candee Lucas. We're glad you're here. This podcast is sponsored by Catholic Cemeteries in the Diocese of San Jose.
Candee Lucas:
The death of a loved one is a very difficult life transition and we hope we can answer some of your questions, help you find where God is moving in your life as you continue your grief journey, and remind you of the power of your faith and love for God. You're always welcome in our circle of healing, love and care. This appears in Isaiah 12. In that day you shall say I give thanks to you, o Lord. Your wrath has turned back and you comfort me. Behold the God who gives me triumph. I am confident and afraid, for, yes, the Lord is my strength and might and has been my deliverance. Joyfully shall you draw water from the fountains of triumph and you shall say on that day Praise the Lord, proclaim His name, make His deeds known among the people, declare that His name is exalted, him the Lord, for he has done gloriously. Let this be made known in all the world. Oh, shout for joy for you. Dwell in Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
Candee Lucas:
Today's theme is why Me? It might be the very first question you ask yourself and others and God on the death of a loved one. Oftentimes we look in strange places, for reassurance, or guidance or just a sign. I remember praying one day about the baptism of Jesus. Looking back was what I was thinking about during that baptism, because previously I had been focused on what was before me. I had failed to see the enormity behind my shoulder, across a plain, hundreds and hundreds of groups of people waiting for John the Baptist. And the enormity of that crowd took my breath away and momentarily I lost sight of Jesus. And when I looked back at him the sun was shining so bright on his face that I could barely recognize his features.
Candee Lucas:
What is this to grief? It is us looking forward. It is us looking forward as our grief creates tunnel vision and we often fail to see outside the corner of our eyes people waiting to help us, a loving God who wants to carry and lift us and be tender to us, because our vision is so focused on that loved one. But take a moment to let that focus shift over your shoulder to see what is there for you. It is God's gracious gift of His love and His healing, waiting for you to lean back into Him and absorb you in that love and healing. Look back over the other shoulder and you'll see the history that you shared with your lost loved one, the highs and the lows, the weaving of the fabric of your lives together, the rough spots, the smooth spots, days when the weaving was so tight as to be silk or velvet and other days so loose as to be like an open weave blanket.
Candee Lucas:
Look over your shoulder again and see farther back. See the bases and foundation and bricks of your faith. Acknowledge where and how they were formed. When were they formed? Can you see your confirmation?
Candee Lucas:
Can you remember your first communion? Can you remember what it was like to take the blessed host on your tongue the very first time? Can you remember what it was like to have Jesus absorbed into your body, the Eucharist thus complete? Remember what it was like when you opened your soul to Jesus, when you opened your heart to Him, what that felt like to almost feel His breath near yours, to faintly feel His heartbeat next to yours. Looking back, do you remember these foundations as they became the boulders and bricks and foundation of your faith? You always carry God with you, much as you always carry your loved one with you. You cannot escape their presence, as they cannot escape your heart or God's heart. Feed your soul every day with what it was or what it is to love them. Notice how very similar that love is, that love for God and that love for your lost loved one.
Candee Lucas:
Do you think this might be a coincidence or is it a fact that what we experience on earth in our temporal lives gives us only a taste of it, a hint of God's love, only one of the colors of the rainbow of God's love? Also take time to remember the significance of looking back. So we remember the significance of the looking back part. Or is it the remembering part, or the forgetting part? Or is it the love part, or is it regret? Their regrets are never about love. No person has ever regretted loving, just as no person has ever regretted loving God. And you can be assured that God has never regretted loving you.
Candee Lucas:
The Prophet Isaiah described in the Old Testament a judgmental God, a God who was concerned more with the law than with loving. On the other hand, he promised us loving. He promised us a loving, all-embracing God who would forgive us, who would tend to us, who would share our turmoil, our losses, our fears, and yet continue to love us. That is the promise of the Prophet Isaiah. And from Isaiah 30, verse 18, "truly the Lord is waiting to show you grace. Truly he will arise to pardon you, for the Lord is a God of justice. Happy are all who wait for him. That concludes another episode of Solace. A new one drops every Friday. Please subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, spotify, amazon or find us on Google. I'm Candi Lucas, your host, after-care coordinator, chaplain and spiritual director at Catholic Cemetery at Gate of Heaven in Los Altos, california. Please contact us If you have questions or seek spiritual direction. Our contact information is in the show notes. Be gentle with yourselves, travel with God, go with God.