As time goes by, we touch the lives of others and they touch our lives. That touch is often for only a moment, but the impact of those relationships linger. Occasionally, we are given the chance to re-connect with these influences on our lives. These connections are sometimes filled with joy, but there is also some sorrow as well - sorrow for what was lost.
Recently, I have touch again some lives that have been separated by years. I have felt the joy of hearing voices I thought I would not hear again, and seeing the faces that, though changed, are still those of my friends. Such meetings are sometimes mixed with joy and a profound sorrow. Some of this sorrow is for the loss of opportunity to the inevitable march of time.
Some of the sorrow is from the palpable impact of sin in our lives. In people I remember as innocent or whom I looked up to, I see the effects of the wrong choices. There are broken relationships, abandoning the Church, ongoing recovery from the fruit of sin, or continued indulgence in sin. It is the same sorrow I have for my own life - sorrow for the time wasted traveling down the wrong path.
What fruitful lives we could have lived if we had only listened instead of following our own counsel; if we had followed Christ rather than the temptations before us. When we were younger, we had such hopes and expectations. We thought that staying faithful would be easy. But life proves again and again that we cannot make it alone. There are no self-made saints. Self-made sinners yes, but not saints.To be a saint you need a savior.
But there is hope; hope for my brothers, and for me. But like the prodigal son, we must first resolve to change and approach our forgiving Father who will rush out to meet each of us as we return, restoring our inheritance; the inheritance Christ, our savior, earned for us on the cross.
May we all turn from sin and rush to the arms of our loving God.
