Last week, my wife and I attended the wake and funeral of a long time friend of ours. This person had a very special sense of humor and often was the, “life of the party”.

Our friend suffered many years from a wide variety of illnesses and over a period of 8+ years eventually all of these maladies took the ultimate toll on his body, and he died.

At the wake service and funeral luncheon, everyone told the stories of good memories and times of laughter. These were stories where our friend brought sunshine and happiness to many.

Few talked about the struggles our friend had with health and the suffering he experienced (the suffering also endured by his loved ones and friends who did not want our friend to face such misery).

We remembered the good times mostly.

In thinking about this, I believe that this is what it will be like when we meet Jesus in Heaven.

As long as we confess our mishaps or sins in the confessional and can also hopefully receive the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick at the end of our lives, Jesus will greet us with open arms. He died to save us from our sins. He will smile, embrace us, and recognize the good we did in our lives. He will also note the mistakes we made and then welcome us home, saying, “well done good and faithful servant.”

There is such hope for all of us as we all will face this eventual reality. We are so blessed to have such a loving God who is awaiting our meeting with Him in Heaven to review the stories that formed the moments of our lives.

The noun, rumination, means a deep considered thought about something.

-By Deacon Tom Gryzbek