J o y.

October 2016
 
Lately, I find myself extremely impatient and uncomfortable with my insecurities, my weaknesses, and the crosses I have to bear in my own life. I find myself growing tired of ... growing. I get weary and tired of not having my way. 

If you are suffering with anything in particular, my hope is that you choose to bear it... And to bear it cheerfully. Our openness to sufferings allow for the seeds of joy to take root, for the promise of resurrection to find its fulfillment. 

In the Catholic Church, celebrating life and love is nothing new. The mercy of Christ, the Bridegroom, and the Church, His Bride, has always been a fixed a mark of our Catholic identity that has allowed man to experience the beauty of redemption and the promises of eternal life. However, we must remember that the celebration is not the basis of our faith in our pilgrim life. These glimpses of eternal joy, tiny pockets of heaven on earth remind us of why we live to believe in the first place. We are a people of hope. It is the hope that something more than this is worth the pilgrimage. Something more than what we experience in our earthly life holds the answers to all our sufferings, to our waitings and wantings, and it is why we live the way we live today.

In the midst of the celebration, I am reminded of the sanctity of human suffering. Let us remember that in the midst of the violence, the loneliness, the darkness that clouds our hopefulness, there is Christ, who is the Light of the World. Joy and suffering are inseparable as our Lord exemplified in His passion. 

Our joy is not fleeting; it's neither the sound of roaring laughter nor the sight of affection & compassion. It cannot be summed up as anything tangible because it is not a part of creation, but rather a virtue belonging to the Maker that he gracefully imparts with his creation.

Love above all is to bear, to endure, to embrace and to extend the suffering that comes with our earthly lives. Each and every person will have a vice, a weakness, and a cross to bear. And each and everyone of us are called to love in spite of such thorns. It is easy to love when the other person does not inconvenience you or hurt you. To love when the person has only made you laugh and feel good about yourself. What is love then if it does not permeate all aspects of life, especially parts that make it hard to believe that there is a God? That such a love so unconditional could exist. 

We must pray for the virtue of charity -- to ask for the capacity to give without asking in return. To love even to the point of death. To experience humility. To be broken. To love prudently. With honesty. With the whole Truth. 


Love as He did. We can not make the sufferings of others about ourselves. Instead, we have to make ourselves about the suffering of others. 

Give glory to God always. Leave nothing for yourself. Take nothing with you for your mission. Give your peace to others.