Joy Follows Sorrow

Family Reflections by Patti Defilippis

A new life reminds me of the Resurrection.

I just spent two and a half weeks with my daughter Mary, her husband Joseph and their newborn baby Emile. You may remember that, just last April, Mary was dancing with her dad at her wedding. Now she is a mom.

During her long and difficult labor, Mary offered up her suffering for so many people! I was inspired and honored to journey with her through it all. The world says you should avoid pain at all costs. But how much we miss when we make that our goal! We mothers have an opportunity to join Christ in His redemptive Passion. And as dark as it seems, the Passion is followed so clearly with the Resurrection – the birth of a new life! Joy follows sorrow.

I have often thought that childbirth has taught me to trust God’s faithfulness. Lord, let me never forget the reality that joy awaits me in Heaven, no matter what suffering