There is very often a difference between the way things are and the way things appear to be.

Our second reading today provides us with a great illustration of this truth.

In that text from Romans 8, St. Paul tells us the way things are in our relationship with God. He tells us that no trial, or pain, or tragedy, or persecution—not even physical death—has the power in and of itself to separate us from the love of Jesus Christ. That’s good news! Sin, of course, has the power to cause this separation, but none of these other realities does. That’s the way things are; in other words, that’s the truth. But sometimes that’s not the way things appear to be, is it? For example, Paul indicates here that suffering does not have the power to separate us from the love of Christ. But suffering can often appear to separate us from the love of Christ—and we all know this by experience. We suffer and sometimes we wonder, "Where is God?" "Why didn’t God do something to stop this?" "Why doesn’t God take this pain away? He must not love me anymore." That’s the conclusion we jump to.

We all have the tendency to think that the difficulties of life separate us from God and his love.

Is there a way to overcome this tendency, and get in better touch with the Lord’s love and way things truly are? Yes, there is: by developing a deeper personal relationship with Jesus. Which means, among other things, that Sunday Mass is not enough! St. Paul, who suffered a great deal during his life, knew that his trials didn’t separate him from the love of Christ because he had a deep personal relationship with the Lord—a relationship which was rooted in the sacraments and Christian fellowship and a strong prayer life.

We should desire that same type of relationship. So should every Catholic!

A couple of weeks ago a woman from our parish died after a long battle with cancer. I had the privilege of anointing her on her deathbed, and I was amazed at her inner peace and at her ability to accept her immanent death. Her attitude was, "If this is my time to go home to the Lord, I’m ready." Clearly she understood that her cancer didn’t separate her from the love of Christ. She understood that because she knew Christ. In fact, if anything her sufferings in the last couple of years drew her closer to the Lord, as she sought her strength in him and in her Catholic faith.

This should help us to understand the key line in the middle of this text from Romans 8. After mentioning all these negative experiences of life (anguish, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril and the sword), St. Paul says to us, "In all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us." This woman was physically conquered by cancer, but spiritually I’m convinced she was not. From all external indications, she actually conquered the cancer with her faith—a faith that was rooted in the love of the Christ she knew personally. That’s why she had such peace at the end.