By Jim, Sandy and Rose Wenner
Sts. Peter and Paul Parish, Richmond;
owners of Wenner Funeral Home
Faced with death, how shall we proceed? We all will die. We all will face death, be it our own mortality, the death of a parent, death of a spouse, death of a child or death of someone else we love. Some face death as Jesus did with everlasting faith in our Father, knowing that he has prepared a place for us.
Facing the death of child as we did is difficult. No one is prepared for the devastating news that your child is going to die, be it from an illness, accident or, in our case, prematurity.
We felt helpless, angry and sad upon being given the news from the medical community that our son, our first born, would soon be called by the Lord. After our son died, we had to put our faith into action — for without faith we have nothing.
Our faith tells us that our son is with the Father in heaven. We wonder if Jesus felt some of the same emotions we felt, even knowing he was fulfilling his Father’s wishes to save us all.
In the words of our 9-year-old daughter, Rose: “I feel guilty when I think of Jesus being condemned to death, and I think, ‘Wow, would I do this?’ The reason I feel guilty is: How do you thank him? Because when you think about it, he really actually saved us, like he was sent to do.”