“God never gives you more than you can handle!” Can we please not repeat this awful cliche?

God doesn’t dump bad things into our laps. Yet, terrible things do happen in this far-from- perfect-world. They seem to happen rather randomly, to anyone anytime. God-worshiping, God-loving people are neither immune nor exempt.

We know that God remains all-loving, all-kind, all-good, and all-merciful at all times AND we still experience circumstances beyond our own capacity to navigate. It’s untenable, the idea that faith requires us to sail through the darkest times as if everything is wonderful. It’s too much pressure.

What our family is going through IS too much. It’s far more than I can handle. It’s even more than our family combined can handle.

But it has been proven over and over again that we are not alone. We’re surrounded by countless people both on earth and in heaven whose love, thoughts, prayers, and sacrifices accompany us. We’re each accompanied by our own guardian angel too. And best of all, God made it possible to know His nearness in a tangible way each day through His Presence in the Holy Eucharist.

We are not alone, so it’s okay.

I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.
^{from Jesus’ prayer in John 17:26}