The priest’s homily at the Mass I attended last Sunday was so meant for a girl friend of mine that I wished she was with me so she would have heard the it.

Before I go to the homily, let me give a quick explanation why I wished this girl friend was with me. Her boyfriend just broke up with her…over email. The two had just started on a relationship when the guy had to go back to the US to fix some papers. Three months passed and the emails that used to arrive every day disappeared. Phone calls that used to be so frequent were lost as well. My girl friend had an inkling something was wrong but she reasoned out that the guy was just busy. About two weeks ago, the email that broke my friend’s heart for the first time came. For days, she was crying.

How is this relevant to the priest’s homily?

In case you didn’t know, last Sunday was Pentecost Sunday. The priest said that after Christ’s ascension, the apostles were left “between loss and promise.” They had just “lost” their Teacher but He also promised he would send someone. In between the Ascension and Pentecost, the apostles were “between loss and promise.”

This state perfectly describes what my friend is going through at the moment, and what I have gone through not too long ago. A guy promised love for eternity to my friend, and all she got was the eternity part - waiting for the guy to come home to Manila. Come home he did, but not to stay but to fix whatever unfinished business he has here, and to end his relationship with my friend.

According to the priest, the only thing that will help get one through this state of “between loss and promise” is faith – that what happened was for the best, that something (or in my friend’s case, someone) better will come along, that one will get through the state of loss and promise and things will get better.

This is one big reason why I hold on to my faith – just when you think you’re already lost in the darkness, He brings back the light and you see that He’s been there with you all along.