The passing of my mother-in-law...

At 11PM last night, (officially, 12:17am by the nurse) my mother-in-law, Edith Ryder, 88 years old, passed away with all her children around her.  A priest was called and gracefully came from a distance to pray over her.  She suffered much.  Her husband, Donald, died several years ago.  He was a POW in North Korea for nearly 28 months, and as I've read, he was a hero to his brother prisoners, getting whatever additional supplies and food to those suffering more than he.

In 1993, I lost my dad; he was 82.  In 2001, just before "9/11", my brother died at the young age of 59.  In 2007, on December 26 (the feast of St. Stephen), my mom passed away at the age of 92 (she was still sharp as a tack!).  All my former, immediate family members are now gone.  Plus, all my grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts and uncles; I guess this is an indication that I'm getting older...

It is also an indication -- maybe more like getting hit over the head with a brick! -- that we don't know when we will be called to be judged by Christ, our Just Judge, and be accountable to Him for our actions, words, or inactions, for that matter.

Can you all see just how important it is to get right with God?   And I'm not just talking about "accepting Christ as your personal Savior" either, but rather doing all that He commanded us to do, in Scripture and sacred Tradition.  We cannot pick and choose what to believe, or what commandments we wish to obey, while ignoring others that may SEEM too difficult to fulfill.  We don't have that luxury, not if we want to be part of that select group: the Elect.

I ask all those of good will to pray for my mother-in-law; for God's mercy on her immortal soul.

RIP, Edith Ryder.

Gene DeLalla