Holy Spirit of Jesus, help me ponder points of grief to find paths of healing and holiness…

 
Matthew 19:16-22
 
After having a great spiritual conversation with good meeting of minds with Jesus, a rich young man walked away in grief, pondering Jesus’ counsel:  If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.  I wonder what happened to this man – did he end up selling his possessions, to shift his wealth from earth to heaven, and then become an ardent follower of the Lord? Grief is a very powerful emotion.  Any loss can knock us flat, and when a fresh loss couples with memories of past losses, the grief we experience at every turn of our lives can be overwhelming.  But the points of grief, sharpened as they are by the dull ache of constant longing, and harvested through prayer,  can be the grist in the mill of life that can result in new life choices that lead ultimately to our healing and holiness, a.k.a. the fulfillment of our lives. Hopefully this was the young man’s outcome.  Will I continue to prick myself with the pointy spikes of grief and like the rich young man, walk away from Christ Jesus? Or will I have the courage to ponder the griefs of my life and so uncover the mercy and the will of God for my being? Or Holy Spirit of Jesus, help me ponder points of grief to find healing and holiness.
 
Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.  (Peter quoted in John 6:67)
 
A person who prays lives out the mystery of existence, and a person who does not pray scarcely exists.
St. Sharbel Makhluf
 
Soli ad gloriam Dei
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