Catholic Dads

It was a rough week at my parish last week.

We buried a 6-year old boy who drowned at a pool birthday party.  We heard about an infant girl who died.  Both of these coming on the heels of another 6-year old who died a couple of months ago.  She had suffered a stroke a couple of years ago during a routine surgery and was confined to a wheelchair.

Tough stuff.  “Why God?” type of stuff.

What was interesting though is that, out of the three kids, the one that struck hardest for most of the parish was the 6-year old boy who drowned.  People throughout the parish were talking about him.   Parents and kids either knew him or knew someone who knew him.  Red ribbons went up on mailboxes throughout the community.

And I had to really try to figure it out.  Why the reaction to this kid, but not the others?  I didn’t know the family, and my 6-year old son didn’t know him.  But, I was having the same reaction as others in my parish.  It was really disturbing me and I couldn’t figure out why.

Then it came to me.

When we hear about tragedy, especially involving kids, we look for the “cause.”  This tragedy happened because _________ (fill in the blank).  And then we take that cause and apply it to our own lives.  In most cases, we assume that we could never succumb to this cause, and so we presume that this tragedy can never befall us.  It gives us a sense of comfort, no matter how false it may be.  We figure whatever happened could never happen to us.

But, in cases like the 6-year old boy, the “cause” is straightforward.  He was a normal, healthy 6-year old boy who attended a pool birthday party and drowned through a freak accident.  He didn’t hit his head, he wasn’t goofing off.  Lifeguards were present.  Period, end of story, no other cause or reason.

So, I am left to ponder the following – I have a normal, healthy 6-year old son who attends birthday parties quite regularly.  One of them has even been a pool party.

In other words, this boy could have been my boy.  I can’t explain it away.  I can’t presume that it could never happen to him; to us; to my family.  I look at the grief of this boy’s family and I see us.  There is no shield; no guard; no way to explain it away.

And that is why it upsets me and the rest of our community the way it does.  We mourn the death of a child; we mourn with his family.  For those who knew him, they mourn in a special way.

But we also come face-to-face with our own fears.  We are a young parish; we have a lot of 6-year old boys running around.  We cannot prevent harm from coming to them and our other kids.  We can try to keep them out of situations that can bring them harm, but we can’t protect them from all harm.  It could just as easily be us facing an empty bedroom, chair at the kitchen table, seat in the car; missing voices; shattered dreams; phantom hugs and kisses.  It could just as easily be us trying to comprehend a vast void blown into our lives.

So, we have to make an extra effort to give our kids over to God.  We have to ask Christ Jesus and our Blessed Mother to watch over them.  We have to call on their guardian angels to be by their sides.  And we have to do our duty as their parents to love them, raise them, and protect them as much as we can.  We have to ask God for help and follow his will for them.  We must appreciate them each and every day, for they are a divine gift and blessing.

We must always keep in mind that our kids belong to God and are given to us by him.

I don’t know why God took these three children, but my faith tells me there is a reason, and that has to be enough comfort for me.  And I guess I’ve been finding myself praying that my faith will not be put to so great a test.

So, I bless my children every morning and I pray that God will keep them safe.  I thank God for them every day.  And then I leave the rest in his hands.

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks

Ask backflip blinklist BlogBookmark Bloglines BlogMarks Blogsvine BuddyMarks BUMPzee! CiteULike co.mments Connotea del.icio.us

Digg diigo DotNetKicks DropJack dzone Facebook Fark Faves Feed Me Links Friendsite folkd.com Furl Google

Hugg Jamespot Jeqq Kaboodle kirtsy linkaGoGo LinkedIn LinksMarker Ma.gnolia Mister Wong Mixx MySpace MyWeb

Netvouz Newsvine oneview OnlyWire PlugIM Propeller Reddit Rojo Segnalo Shoutwire Simpy Slashdot Sphere

Sphinn Spurl Squidoo StumbleUpon Technorati ThisNext Twitter Webride Windows Live Worlds Movies Yahoo!

Email This to a Friend

Copy HTML: 

 If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

Powered by Bookmarkify™

More »