We each have responsibilities and privileges. These come with age, some come when we have proven ourselves worthy, and some people are born with the heavy weight of burdens. Being Catholic, I have recognized these burdens as crosses to bear. We each have a cross to carry, although these may not be as large or quite as literal as the cross I believe Jesus carried, we all must deal with them in our own way.


Death is a rather difficult cross to bear, sometimes people are suddenly laden with such a cross. How can one explain the emotional pain of losing somebody they love? I lost my uncle to cancer and I still can't comprehend how it must hurt for a sister to lose her brother. How painful it must be for a mother to lose her child. Even when you look at someone who is sick or suffering, you can see the helplessness and the loneliness they must feel in their eyes. That is a major cross to bear. People with no faith, even they surely have misfortunes, and even if they do not look to God in times of sadness, they like the rest of the world, must find a way to bear their crosses each and every day.


Although I have faced many sad times and witnessed depression and suffering, I still sit and ponder how one might feel in certain situations. In a world where child are orphaned, where many starve, and where many places lie in devastation, it is key to have empathy for one another, and to be compassionate when rough times call for us to show compassion. We also must pray for peace and love because without these, where would we be? We would fall under the weight of our own personal crosses.