Only Through Faith! (Death of a Young Person)

The shock of this tragedy has stunned our entire parish. For those of us who knew [First Name], this occasion in the Church has an air of unreality about it. We cannot believe what has happened. And, to [First Name]’s parents and family, the event is a nightmare from which they hope to awaken.

The suddenness of [First Name]’s passing leaves us stunned by grief. But we know that, however hard we try, none of us can really enter into the desolate world of the mother and father and share their pain of loss. Their sorrow is something that only they themselves can know. Their bereavement is private … stark … exclusive. In this sense, we are all outsiders at this moment.

Although they stand alone, in this sense, [First Name]’s natural family are here as members of a larger family: the Family of Faith; the Christian Community. And we are all bound to each other by a special form of friendship — the friendship…