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A Better Understanding of Our Common Humanity
It is in moments of sorrow is when our human differences become negligible
The loss of a loved one is an experience that defines, shapes and informs who and what we are, one of those inescapable events and realities encountered along the journey of life, a traumatically painful milestone that we encounter along navigating uneven meanders of the river of our existence.
It is in times such as these that life truly feels like a series of roll coaster rides, the kind that shake you, scare you cold. We recognize that life is a series of moments of heartbreak, filled with sharp, inconvenient pangs of mourning, triggered by the most banal of thoughts, firing at you when you least expect. But there is a lot to learn from these darker times of the human condition. And not all of these lessons are as dark as one would think.
What becomes clear, regardless of our faith tradition, and of how we ultimately practice our religious beliefs, is the fact that deep down inside, we are all so similar in our humanity, in our sensitivities and reactions in times of crisis. This common essence becomes so apparent when we pray, reflect, and cry with sorrow and heart felt compassion together with our Jewish, Hindu, Muslim and Christian brothers and sisters.
It is in times like these that life can appear as a series of difficult moments that force one to reconsider our earthly existence, a set of moments when our conscience, as a mysteriously delicate work of God, gently forces us to reevaluate how one has lived the Christian life. We ask ourselves if we have lived righteously? Have we willed the good of the other? Have we sufficiently and authentically followed the precepts and teachings of the Gospel, made every effort to stay on the “recta via Domini”? When pondering questions such as these a bit of help from the Holy Gospel can provide the spiritual support that we need.
The Beatitudes, enunciated our Lord’s “Sermon on the Mount”, a divine jewel in the Gospel of Matthew, can act as an all encompassing litmus test for this examination of conscience. Our Lord speaks these words:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who…
