Suffering, Tribulation From the writings of St. Rose of Lima

St. Rose of Lima, Virgin

From the writings of St. Rose of Lima

Let us know the love of Christ which surpasses all knowledge

Our Lord and Saviour lifted up his voice and said with incomparable majesty: “Let all men know what grace comes after tribulation.  Let them know that without the burden of afflictions it is impossible to reach the height of grace.  Let them know that the gifts of grace increase as the struggles increase.  Let men take care not to stray and be deceived.  This is the only true stairway to paradise, without the cross they can find no road to climb to heaven.

When I heard these words, a strong force came upon me and seemed to place me in the middle of a street, so that I might say in a loud voice to people of every age, sex and status: “Hear, O people; hear, O nations.  I am warning you about the commandment of Christ by using words that came from his own lips: 

We cannot obtain grace unless we suffer afflictions.  

We must heap trouble upon trouble to attain 

a deep participation in the divine nature, 

the glory of the sons of God and perfect happiness of soul.”

That same force urged me to proclaim the beauty of divine grace.  It pressed me so that my breath came slow and forced me to sweat and pant.  I felt as if my soul could no longer be kept in the prison of the body, but that it had burst its chains and was free and alone and was going very swiftly through the whole world saying: 

“If only mortals would learn how great 

it is to possess divine grace, 

how beautiful, how noble, how precious.  

How many riches it hides within itself, 

how many joys and delights!  

Without doubt they would devote all their care and concern to winning for themselves pains and afflictions.  All men throughout the world would seek trouble, infirmities and torments, instead of good fortune, in order to attain the unfathomable treasure of grace.  This is the reward and the final gain of patience.  No one would complain about his cross or about troubles that may happen to him, if he would come to know the scales on which they are weighed when they are distributed to men.”

St. Paul the Apostle homily by St. John Chrysostom

For Love of Christ, 

Paul  bore every burden

From a homily by 

Saint John Chrysostom, bishop

Paul, more than anyone else, has shown us what man really is, and in what our nobility consists and of what virtue this particular animal is capable.  Each day he aimed ever higher; each day he rose up with greater ardor and faced with new eagerness the dangers that threatened him.  

He summed up his attitude in the words:   I forget what is behind me and push on to what lies ahead.  When he saw death imminent, he had others share his joy:   Rejoice and be glad with me!  And when danger, injustice and abuse threatened, he said: I am content with weakness, mistreatment and persecution.  These he called the weapons of righteousness, thus telling us that he derived immense profit from them.

Thus, amid the traps set for him by his enemies, with exultant heart he turned their every attack into a victory for himself; constantly beaten, abused and cursed, he boasted of it as though he were celebrating a triumphant procession and taking trophies home, and offered thanks to God for it all: Thanks be to God who is always victorious in us!  

This is why he was far more eager for the shameful abuse that his zeal in preaching brought upon him than we are the most pleasing honors, more eager for death than we are for life, for poverty than we are for wealth; he yearned for toil far more than others yearn for rest after toil.  

The one thing he feared, indeed dreaded, 

was to offend God; 

nothing else could sway him. 

Therefore, the only thing 

he really wanted was always to please God.

The most important thing of all to him, however, was that he knew himself to be loved by Christ.  Enjoying this love, he considered himself happier than anyone else; were he without it, it would be no satisfaction to be the friend of principalities and powers.  He preferred to be thus loved and be the least of all, or even to be among the damned, than to be without that love and be among the great and honored.

To be separated from that love 

was, in his eyes, 

the greatest and most 

extraordinary of torments; 

the pain of that loss 

would alone have been hell, 

and endless, unbearable torture.

So too, in being loved by Christ he thought of himself as possessing life, the world, the angels, present and future, the kingdom, the promise and countless blessings.  Apart from that love nothing saddened or delighted him;  for nothing earthly did he regard as bitter or sweet.

Paul set no store by the things that fill our visible world, any more than a man sets value on the withered grass of the field.  As for tyrannical ruler or the people enraged against him, he paid them no more heed than gnats.

Death itself and pain and whatever torments might come were but child’s play to him, provided that thereby he might bear some burden for the sake of Christ.

Taken from the Liturgy of the Hours, Conversion of Paul January 25

St. Paul preaching in Athens by Raphael

St. Paul Teaches Us That ...

1 Cor. 1:23- Paul preaches a Christ crucified, not just risen. Catholic spirituality focuses on the sacrifice of Christ which is the only means to the resurrection. This is why Catholic churches have crucifixes with the corpus of Jesus affixed to them. Many Protestant churches no longer display the corpus of Jesus (only an empty cross). Thus, they only preach a Christ risen, not crucified.

1 Cor. 2:2 – Paul preaches Jesus Christ and Him crucified. While the cross was the scandal of scandals, and is viewed by the non-Christian eye as defeat, Catholic spirituality has always exalted the paradox of the cross as the true tree of life and our means to salvation.

2 Cor. 1:5-7- if we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort as well. If we unite our sufferings with His, we will be comforted by Him.

2 Cor. 4:10 – Paul writes that we always carry in the body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. Christ has allowed room in His Body for our sufferings, and our sufferings allow room for Christ to bring us to life.

2 Cor. 4:11 – while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake so that His life may be manifested in our flesh. This proves the Catholic position that our sufferings on earth are united with Jesus in order to bring about Jesus’ life in us.

Phil. 1:29 – for the sake of Christ we are not only to believe in Him but also to suffer for His sake. Growing in holiness requires more than having faith in God and accepting Jesus as personal Lord and Savior. We must also willfully embrace the suffering that befalls us as part of God’s plan. Thus, Christ does not want our faith alone, but our faith in action which includes faith in suffering.

Phil. 3:10 – Paul desires to share in Christ’s sufferings in order to obtain the resurrection. Paul recognizes the efficacy of suffering as a means of obtaining holiness which leads to resurrection and eternal life. 

There is no Easter Sunday 

without Good Friday.

Excerpts from Scripture Catholic https://www.scripturecatholic.com/suffering/

Writings of St. Augustine -- The Sufferings of Christ

St. Augustine, bishop

St. Augustine, bishop

From a commentary on the psalms

The sufferings of Christ are not in Christ alone

Jesus Christ is one man with head and body, the Savior of the body and the members of the body, two in one flesh, in one voice, in one passion, and, when wickedness has passed away, in one state of rest.  

The sufferings of Christ are therefore 

not in Christ alone; 

yes, but the sufferings of Christ are only in Christ.

               
If by Christ you mean both head and body, the sufferings of Christ are only in Christ.  But if by Christ you mean only the head, then the sufferings of Christ are not in Christ alone.  For if the sufferings of Christ are in Christ alone, how can the apostle Paul, as a member of Christ, say this: That I may fill up in my flesh what is lacking of the sufferings of Christ?

If then you are among the members of Christ, whatever human being you are, whoever you are that hears this, whoever you are that does not hear this (but if you are among the members of Christ you do hear this), whatever you suffer at the hands of those who are not among the members of Christ was lacking to the sufferings of Christ.

Your sufferings are added because they were lacking.  

You fill up a measure; 

you do not pour something that overflows.  

You suffer as much as needed 

to be added from your sufferings 

to the total suffering of Christ, 

who suffered as our head, and

 suffers in his members, that is, in ourselves.

Each one of us in his own measure 

pays his debt to what may be called 

this commonwealth of ours.  

In proportion to our store of strength we contribute as it were a tax of suffering.  The final reckoning of all suffering will not take place until the world has come to an end.

Do not then imagine, brethren that all the just who suffered persecution at the hands of the wicked, even those who were sent to foretell the coming of the Lord before he came, did not belong to the members of Christ.  God forbid that one who belongs to the city which has Christ for king should not belong to the members of Christ.

In the blood of Abel, the just one, the whole city speaks, and so on until the blood of Zechariah.  From then, it is the same city that goes on speaking in the blood of John (the Baptist), in the blood of the apostles, in the blood of the martyrs, in the blood of Christ’s faithful people.

Taken from the Liturgy of the Hours, According to the Roman Rite, Ordinary Time, Catholic Book Publishing Corp.  New York, 1975

Suffering - God Purifies Us

Let us Rejoice in the joy that follows sadness

From a letter by Saint Peter Damian, bishop

You asked me to write you some words of consolation, my brother.  Embittered by so many tribulations, you are seeking some comfort for your soul.  You asked me to offer you some suggestions.

But there is no need for me to write.  Consolation is already within your reach, if your good sense has not been dulled.  My son, come to the service of God. Stand in justice and fear.  Prepare your soul; it is about to be tested.  These words of Scripture show that you are a son of God and, as such, should take possession of your inheritance.  What could be clearer than this exhortation?

Where there is justice as well as fear, adversity will surely test the spirit.  But it is not the torment of a slave.  Rather it is the discipline of a child by its parent.

Event in the midst of his many sufferings, the holy man Job could say: Whip me, crush me, cut me in slices! And he wold always add: This at least would bring me relief, yet my persecutor does not spare me.

But for God’s chosen ones there is great comfort; 

the torment lasts but a short time.

  

Then God bends down, cradles the fallen figure, 

whispers words of consolation. 

With hope in his heart, man picks himself up 

and walks again toward the glory of happiness in heaven.

Craftsmen exemplify this same practice.  By hammering gold, the smith beats out the dross.  The sculptor files metal to reveal a shining vein underneath.  The potter’s furnace puts vessels to the test.  And the fire of suffering tests the mettle of just men. 

The apostle James echoes this thought: 

Think it a great joy, dear brothers and sisters, 

when you stumble onto the many kinds of trials and tribulations.

When men suffer pain for the evil 

they have perpetrated in life, 

they should take some reassurance.  

They also know that for their good deeds 

undying rewards await them in the life to come.

Therefore, my brother, scorned as you are by men, lashed as it were by God, do not despair.  Do not be depressed.  Do not let your weakness make you impatient.  Instead, let the serenity of your spirit shine through your face.  Let the joy of your mind burst forth.  Let words of thanks break from your lips.

The way that God deals with men can only be praised.  He lashes them in this life to shield them from the eternal lash in the next.  He pins people down now; at a later time he will raise them up.  He cuts them before healing; he throws them down to raised them anew.

The Scriptures reassure us: let your understanding strengthen your patience.  In serenity look forward to the joy that follows sadness.  

Hope leads you to that joy and love enkindles your zeal.  The well-prepared mind forgets the suffering inflicted from without and glides eagerly to what it has contemplated within itself.

St. Francis de Sales

Dying Man's words to save OUR souls

"Herbert Broome had a message he had received from God that he wanted to send to the world before he died.

He died of cancer within hours after this video was made. These are his last words..."

I did not know this man--but his story is one that needs to be shared with the world as he wished.. 

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT!!!

Please watch this video... 

 

May all the souls of the faithfully departed, through the Mercy of God, Rest in Peace.

May the Lord's Mercy be upon you, Mr. Bloome, for sharing this with us...  

Youtube video
http://youtu.be/TeE2xg3REtA