I was just thinking today how empty my life would be if I didn't believe in God. It's not the first time I've thought that of course, but it really hit me this evening as I read more of Fr Benedict J Groeschel's wonderful book The Saints in My Life. I am coming to the end of it, but don't want it to end, which is always a good sign of a book, I think! I had been savouring a little of it each night as I shared some special quiet time with the baby Toot, which itself has recently come to an end. Seventeen months wasn't bad, I suppose, but it's always difficult to let the closeness of breastfeeding go.
Anyway, the book reminded me of the immense richness of our Roman Catholic faith and conversely the emptiness that a lack of belief in God would bring to one's life.
If there were no God, no life after death, no heaven, then, to take just one example, that would mean no saints. No friends or advocates to help us here on earth, intercede for us, lead us closer to God, help us get to heaven.
When I talk about saints, I don't just mean Saints, the capital letter people whose feasts we celebrate throughout the year. I mean people that you and I have known or met in our own lives, who now enjoy being in the presence of God. People like the fella in the photo, Fr Timmy Walsh, the wonderful Augustinian priest we knew and loved in Fethard. He popped into my head recently on the feast of St Timothy. I was feeling troubled and imagined I was talking to him, asking his advice. Truthfully, I felt like I was actually talking to him and his reply comforted and helped me, just as he would have while he was alive. Of course, now that he is in heaven, he can do even more to help people.
