"The core message of Jesus is that real joy and peace can never be reached while bypassing suffering and death, but only by going right through them. We could say: 'We really have no choice.' Indeed, who escapes suffering and death? Yet there is still a choice. We can deny the reality of life, or we can face it. When we face it not in despair, but with the eyes of Jesus, we discover that where we least expect it, something is hidden that holds a promise stronger than death itself. Jesus lived his life with the trust that God’s love is stronger than death and that death, therefore, does not have the last word. He invites us to face the painful reality of our existence with the same trust." Henri Nouwen

This is one of the characteristics that distinguishes a faithful Christian from a nominal one. This ability to embrace the sufferings of life, knowing that Jesus has shown us the way. This ability to be able to look death in the eye, knowing that God's promise is greater than the seeming hopeless of death.  This ability to trust in God and to entrust our lives into his hands, so that our sharing in his divine life might be eternal. Our faith is not without foundation. It is rooted in the person of Jesus, the Lord, who is the resurrection and the life.