The crosses that we will find along our way in this life will, in the long run, strengthen us so that we can survive life’s rainstorms and floods. An uncomfortable and frightening prospect, yes, but as Saint Paul reminds us in today’s reading, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Jesus teaches us not to turn away from the crosses that life places on our shoulders, but rather to bear them with grace and dignity, so that we will find the life of God within us.

Thus will we, you and I and Jesus, walking through life together, be able to transform our despair into hope, our anguish into healing, and our sadness into joy.

And one day into eternal life.