On July 24 this year, the second anniversary of my final profession of vows, I had the privilege of joining two other Sisters in a visit to a former student’s house. Her father, Jim Weeks, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two and a half years previously, when she was in my class. Now, the family had just received a heart-wrenching diagnosis: the cancer had spread, and Jim was told that he had only one to three more weeks. The visit with the Weeks family during this time was probably one of the greatest blessings God has given me during my religious life. To be standing with this family, looking straight at death, and to see their faith and utter trust in God is a grace I will never forget. What struck me most that evening was Jim’s attitude toward this time, which he knew was his last on earth. While clearly grieving over the recent diagnosis, Jim expressed that losing someone we love, as his daughters were about to, is a part of life that he himself had experienced with his own parents, and he was glad that he could be home with his daughters, so that they, too, could experience the joy of that time.
The joy of suffering: One family’s witness in the face of unimaginable heartache – Detroit Catholic: Read Catholic News & Stories
The joy of suffering: One family’s witness in the face of unimaginable heartache – Detroit Catholic: Read Catholic News & Stories
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