User:ModerateCatholic/The Future?

With Christmas fast approaching, there is no better time to weigh up the successes and failures of the last year in all of our lives. For me, personally, the last year has helped me find God.

Two years ago, at the tender age of seventeen my girlfriend and I decided to get married. Six days before our wedding she died in a horrific car crash - This was the single most crushing blow in my life. Over the next six months I cast aside my skepticism for God, and developed a personal relationship with Christ. I started by re-reading the Bible - but this time, I left out the Old Testament. Thats what put me off Christianity the last time. The Four Gospels changed my life. Spirited debates with my local priest and a healthy grieving process allowed me the opportunity to expand my mind; I still miss her, but now I believe she died for a reason. God has a plan too complex and sometimes too heartbreaking for individuals to understand; Why he determined I should be a priest is still unknown to me, but I feel it on the streets with the homeless; I feel their pain like its my own. If I can save even one sixteen year old kid from heroin by showing him some of the homeless people now living on the streets because of it, then Susanna's death will have been worth it.

This is my Christmas message; Never lose sight of the enduring goodness of God. Even when his plan is impossible to work out, and even when you are angry at him for taking away a loved one, you must remember all things happen for a reason. At this time of the year, there may be missing seats on the table, but just remember the hope and common goodness of the human spirit, and his creator; God.