it all evens out in the end...

my life's sense of balance was renewed through two small, but moving occurrences this weekend. last night i decided to head up to church to pray for the pope. i happened to get there before the spanish mass was over, so i called my mom to play catch up while i waited in my car. as we were talking, she told me that mail had come for me from an old friend who i haven't seen since high school. tighe and i grew up together and were really close in elementary school. when adolescence snuck up on us, we went our separate ways and downgraded our relationship to being mere acquaintances. i knew that she had gotten caught up with a bit rougher crowd, but had no idea where it was taking her after high school.

now five years later, i couldn't help but get teary-eyed as my mother read to me a wedding announcement and a letter from tighe telling me all she's been doing. she'll graduate with from school in may and go on to do youth ministry with inner city youth. joy radiated from her words, and i know that she has truly found her place in the world. the changes that can take place in such a small amount of time amaze me and i'm thankful for whoever or whatever started all of this in tighe.

riding on my emotional high, i headed into an almost empty sanctuary for some private mourning and praise. as i cried and prayed, i heard father mike begin to pray in spanish at the front of the church- i could hear that he was performing a baptism. i was struck by just how fitting it was that a tiny and brand-new person was joining the Church on the same day that so many were suffering such a great loss. my tears were replaced with a peaceful smile, knowing that there were surely countless other Catholics celebrating that rite across the globe.

small moments of immeasurable beauty like these are what make this life worth while and what allow us to fully comprehend the contrasting times of sorrow.