by Sasha T. Brelinsky

Why? It’s the question bouncing around my mind. Why?

Just as my pain becomes bearable, just as I feel like maybe I can start to go back to being the person I used to be, I hear the news. A beloved and wonderful mother, a parishioner of St. Joseph’s Church, is expected to die, and tonight.

Why? Why does death always seem to follow me? Why are the people we love so cruelly snatched away? Why aren’t we allowed just a little bit longer with them?

When I heard the news, I began to angrily contemplate death. Then, it dawned on me. God, just like us, is impatient. He is perfect, but He is impatient. He misses each and every one of His loved ones, and He loves us all. He has to wait until the end of time to be with all of us, and He misses us so much that He gave us the Sacrifice of the Cross to celebrate in each Mass because He wants to be with us, and He wants us to be with Him forever. He misses us dearly, and so He made the ultimate sacrifice and gave us the Most Holy Communion.

Why, then, would we not allow our loved ones to be with God? It will not be easy to let go, but even Jesus cried over Lazarus’s death.

This does not mean that we should not grieve, it simply means realizing and accepting that just like us, God misses His beloved. God Himself waits excitedly for the day He will see us again.

God is perfect, and He is impatient.
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This post was written by my 13yo daughter, Sasha T. Brelinsky in response to the news that our friend Nancy Mack, cherished wife and mother of six, was dying from the cancer we’d all thought she’d survived. Nancy lived a life of incredible testimony to faith and surrender. She loved completely and worshiped without reservations.

At daybreak on Friday, April 17th, Nancy rose from this world and joined the communion of saints. May God grant her eternal rest.