All of us have experienced loss in life. All of us have experienced a goodbye in life. All of us have experienced a death in life. As the saying goes, “The deeper the love, the more difficult the goodbye”.

When we experience loss, death, and a goodbye in life, it is as if life stood still. What do I do next? How can I cope in life? What do I do now? In the Gospel, this is perhaps the things in the minds of the two disciples who experienced loss and death. They too, did what most of us would do… leaving the place of bad, sad, and painful memories.

How do we change our grief to gratitude? The journey of the two disciples tells us:

1. We are never alone in the journey of life. The promise of the Lord, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” While we feel alone in the goodbyes of life, God is with us. The imagery of the footprints in the sands says it all.  
2. God has a plan in all. We may not fully understand the plan of God, especially when it makes a sudden turn or when life throws us a curve ball. Yet, he has a plan in all of these as he had a plan for the life of Jesus. His passion, death, and resurrection were all part of the plan. 
3. Prayer. Jesus was recognized when he broke bread. What a great blessing for us Catholics to celebrate Mass. People come to the church in their happiest moments: answered prayer, promotion, or finding true love. People come here when they hit rock bottom: betrayal of a trusted person, shattered dream, death of a loved one, diagnosis of chronic sickness, or financial loss. Yet people continue to see the hand of God in all seasons of life. 

We pray for all those who are grieving. You will realize that you are on your way to healing when your can hold both in your heart, grief, and gratitude. Since we are never alone in life, since God has a plan in all, and since God is just a prayer away. Eventually, the grief will be encompassed by gratitude – Were not our hearts burning?