Fr. Alvin and Christine,
As I mentioned in another thread, your bringing this issue up has given me much to contemplate on a very deep level.
I know the dark despair of being near suicide, but today I have a very deep realization of the pure ultimate truth of 1 John 4:8. God is love.
God! Is! Love!
As deeply as we feel our loves, so much more does He feel for all of us! And He Himself has told us that love conquers all! It is unfathomable that any of us could ever resist His immense and overwhelming love for us!
Truly, it is just as said in Ecclesiastes; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance. Death has taken him away from your presence here, but death has lost the battle! It cannot prevail against His ineffable love!