Based on the work of Ronald Rolheiser.

“This cycle is not something that we must undergo just once, at the moment of our deaths, when we lose our earthly lives as we know them. It is rather something we must undergo daily, in every aspect of our lives.  Christ spoke of many deaths, of daily deaths and of many rising and various pentecosts. The paschal mystery is the secret to life. Ultimately our happiness depends upon properly undergoing it.”

“Name your deaths”

• Talk about the suffering that you have witnessed at your site. What has been particularly challenging for you?

“Claim your births”

• What is there to celebrate at your site? Where do you find hope?

“Grieve what you have lost and adjust to the new reality”

• How do you stop yourself from becoming overwhelmed?

“Do not cling to the old, let it ascend and give you its blessing”

• What do you take away from your site, good and bad?

“Accept the spirit of the life that you are in fact living.”

• How does your spirituality help you deal with what you encounter at the site?

 

Ronald Rolheiser, OMI is a Catholic priest who writes on spirituality and systematic theology.