In Christ's suffering on Good Friday there is assurance that we are not alone in our pain

The New York Times reports that many Americans who have jobs find themselves gripped with anxiety and waking up in the middle of night with fear of their future and the longevity of their employment amid this ongoing recession.

In Middle Tennessee this afternoon, tornadoes ripped through the very populated city of Murfreesboro, killing a mother and baby and injuring two dozen other people.

In California, a rookie major league picture had only hours before hurled the first six innings of his big league career and didn't allow a run. He then was killed by a hit and run driver at an intersection, along with the young lady he had just been dancing with.

There are more stories of tragedy on this day. But Good Friday teaches us that Our Lord has experienced every low and valley we have seen or endured. His blessed mother, Mary the Mother of God, with the seven sorrows that pierced her heart also knows our deepest hurts from personal experience.

Consider that the son she cradled before the manger she also cradled at the cross after his death on Good Friday. And also remember that the swaddling clothes she wrapped around him as a child in the stable she put around him in the tomb.

And because they know, along with our father in heaven, we have been provided ultimate consolation and joy after all the tears. Today, we commemorate the suffering of Our Lord so that we might have eternal life. And our remembrance is vivid recognition -- if we stop and open our eyes and hearts -- that he is truly present in our suffering, more than at any other time of our lives.

Just as with the beautiful story called "Footsteps", the single pair of impressions in the sand truly are when Our Lord carries us, as he did on this day with the cross to Golgotha.

In your pain, realize that it is in your suffering that God is most present. And believe that through his son, he has secured ultimate consolation and joy, not only for the moment here on this Earth but most of all for eternity in heaven.