Today, many of us, even our youth, have forgotten how to fall in love. We’ve become controlled, white-knuckled, self-sufficient; wary, informed, smart like phones, scrambling to keep up with artificial smartness.

We’re poor, we humans walking the earth. We’re nothing in the vast universe, and can keep nothing. If God forgot us, even for a micro-second, we wouldn’t exist.

We know from Scripture and Church teaching that nobody is created monstrous. We’re created in God’s image, but what does that mean?

A woman was surprised to see, during a stressful interview with their son’s principal, her dear husband’s face crumple like a child’s, a look of terror appearing momentarily.

A woman was surprised to see, during a stressful interview with their son’s principal, her dear husband’s face crumple like a child’s, a look of terror appearing there momentarily.

Human dignity is restored to someone shattered. A dead relationship comes to life. A broken person is made whole. How does it happen?

One morning before dawn, Sam wakes to sounds of his next-door neighbour screaming and swearing. He hears banging sounds, as of things being thrown around. He knows an older man, young woman and a child live there. Does he mind his own business? Does he excoriate them for waking him up? Does he investigate or go back to sleep?

At a church event for seniors, activities and games were organized for guests, with lunch, snacks and prayer time. To the surprise of all, one woman’s voice echoed throughout the afternoon, complaining she didn’t get anything she wanted, didn’t feel well treated, and was bitterly disappointed.

As we come to trust God, suffering doesn’t go away but is changed. There’s no place it can go where joy cannot reach, but there’s a place joy can go where suffering cannot reach. That’s called love.

We all face the challenge of finding our place. But the most serious task anyone will ever have is to find one’s place in the Church.