Mortification, Penance, Suffering Seen through the Holy Spirit

By Barbara A. Schoeneberger

 

Comprehending the value of the Cross, of suffering, of willful mortification and penance is impossible with the human eye alone. We need the light of the Holy Spirit to live through that which is visited upon us just as Jesus was seized and killed by worldly powers. In the eyes of the world he was just a man, one certainly with extraordinary power to heal both hearts and bodies, but in the end, just someone who could be killed to be gotten out of the way.

To the world, suffering makes no sense. It is a mystery. Mortification and penance make no sense. The world cannot conceive the hidden meaning and value of suffering and so it vainly seeks to end it by purely earthly means – this program and that, but oddly enough only creating more suffering. When by the grace of the Holy Spirit and with a generous heart charity seizes us, we can not only accept that which is beyond our control, but also choose to take advantage of all the many instances we find daily to deny ourselves and follow in the footsteps of the Lord.

In Meditation #97 of Divine Intimacy Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene writes:>

The spirit of mortification has more than a purely physical aspect of mortification; it also includes renunciation of the ego, the will, and the understanding.

Continue reading at Barb's blog Suffering With Joy.

Duty and devotion

By Barbara A. Schoeneberger

St. John of Martha Celebrating Mass by Miranda (public domain).

A fellow blogger inspired this post when she wrote about her frustrations with Holy Days of Obligation being celebrated during the week, which necessitates our attending Mass according to Church law. Many people feel that way, some to the extent that they skip Mass, but not so this blogger who went because it was her duty to go whether she liked it or not.

Life is like that. We all have duties, some of which become outright oppressive at times. Who hasn’t been tempted to shirk them at home, at work, or church? The concupiscence of our human nature is constantly at war with our spirit which urges us on to the noble acts required by our status as children of God. Fulfillment of all of our duties according to our state in life and its attendant obligations is a virtuous act of filial piety, something we tend to rebel against now and then. Filial piety flows into devotion, which St. Thomas Aquinas tells us, is “the will to do promptly all that pertains to the service of God.”


Continue reading at Barb's blog Suffering with Joy.

Humility of heart and confidence in God

By Amanda Rose

Ukranian Icon (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons).

We needn't be afraid of our weakness, our nothingness. Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen explains in my favorite book, Divine Intimacy:

"...for it is the consciousness of our nothingness which leads us to put all our confidence in God, and the greater this confidence becomes in us, the more convinced we are of our nothingness....I have to acknowledge new failures every day; daily I must begin anew.
The more we suffer because of our wretchedness, the more we should run to Jesus, with full confidence in the power of  His Redemption... Let us not be discouraged; if we can humbly acknowledge our failure instead of feeling annoyance because of it, the failure itself will turn into victory."

It sounds like such a little step to "humbly acknowledge our failure instead of feeling annoyance," but how difficult it is when we struggle with the same challenges time and again! The words of the psalmist in Psalm 37:24-25 have been a great encouragement to me over the years as I struggle with myself: "Though I may fall, I do not lie prostrate, for the hand of my God sustains me."  I continue to fall, but He keeps me from falling too far and is ever ready to reach out His own hand to pull me back to my feet, or maybe (more humbly) to my knees. He is ever patient with me while I am pridefully impatient myself. Humility of heart grows as we accept our failures as being part of our human condition, repent with true contrition, and then move right along rather than wasting time beating ourselves up, regretting, or rehashing.
 

Continue reading at Amanda's blog Little Steps Along the Way.

Infinite Goodness stoops over man

by Amanda Rose 

 

Deus Caritas Est (from the Church of Santa Sabina, Rome; photo by Fr. Lawrence, OP).

 

 

"Man's wickedness may accumulate sin upon sin, evil upon evil, but overall, God's goodness will remain unchangeable. The shadow of evil will not mar it; instead, God who is always benevolent, will bend over the evil to change it into good, and to draw a greater good from it. Thus, infinite Goodness stooped over man, the sinner, and made an immensely superior good come from Adam's fall: the redemption of the world through the Incarnation of His only-begotten Son. This is the distinctive characteristic of God's goodness: to will the good, only the good, even to the point of drawing good from evil. "  Section 232, Divine Intimacy 

 

God with His infinite Goodness stoops over us as we suffer in our brokenness here on earth. It's not so hard to acknowledge this truth intellectually, but it's much more difficult to remember the transformative nature of God's goodness in the midst of one's own suffering.

Yet clinging to this truth brings some small comfort, for in the midst of darkness there is a light of hope in remembering that our Good God is stooping over us in our misery and that He will draw good out of even the most awful circumstances. Nothing is wasted, there need be no pointless suffering. God's goodness is unchangeable, even though we don't always see it at the present moment.

 Faith tells us: God is Good. Faith tells us: "All things work together for good…" Romans 8:28.

And so we believe, we hope, we trust.


This was originally posted at Amanda's blog  Little Steps Along The Way