"He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." // Colossians 1:17

My friend, Beth Davis, often talks about her "life verse." Her life verse is that one piece of Scripture that is woven throughout her story and ultimately sums up the character of her relationship with the Lord.

I have never really shared mine because it seems too elementary to be worth sharing, if you know what I mean. However, my life verse has always been Colossians 1:17, from today's Second Reading.

"He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

Most Sundays since I can remember, I have sat at Mass alone.

I can close my eyes and see my fifteen-year-old self sitting up near the altar at my home parish in Arizona. I carry a ten-pound journal because I cannot stop writing about grief. I feel deeply rejected by this one boy in an overwhelming "life must be over now" way. My parents have divorced, and it seems my world is falling apart.

Yet, when the host is raised during the consecration, I will bow and say to myself: He is before all things, and in Him, all things hold together.

I can close my eyes and see my eighteen-year-old self sitting near the back of the crypt of the Basilica in DC. Without the security of my home parish in Arizona, I feel this gaping hole at my core. I am scared my desires for community will go unresponded to. I worry I will not feel understood again.

Yet, when the host is raised during the consecration, I will place a hand over my stomach, and I will know: He is before all things, and in Him, all things hold together.

I can close my eyes and see my twenty-two-year-old self sitting near Saint Joseph at a church downtown. This time, I believe, life really must be over now. I got dumped, again, but it seems like an unrecoverable, unredeemable grief that no ten-pound journal could save me from.

I remember though, as the host is raised during the consecration, and I believe it fully: He is before all things, and in Him, all things hold together.

Do you believe this, sister? Pray with it today.

[bctt tweet="He is before all things, and in Him, all things hold together. // Sarah Elizabeth" username="blessedisshe__"]

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