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There is always struggle
4. “Jesus: ‘My child, life on earth is a struggle indeed; a great struggle for my kingdom. But fear not, because you are not alone. I am always supporting you, so lean on Me as you struggle, fearing nothing. Take the vessel of trust and draw from the fountain of life – for yourself, but also for other souls, especially such as are distrustful of My goodness.’” (No. 1488) Divine Mercy Diary
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I learned, and I guess we all do, very early, that life is often a struggle of one kind or another. Being knocked around is not a rare event. Even those we may think have it easy, probably do not. I have never met anyone who has had it easy. Yes, there are some who seem weighed down more than others. I have met them, yet in their struggles, they do get through each day.
Comparisons do not work. More than once, people have told me that they should not even speak of their problems when so many suffer so much more. The problem with this statement is that if taken to its absurd conclusion, there would only be one person in the world who could actually speak of their sufferings, and that would be the ‘one’ who suffers more than anyone else.
Love and suffering go together. Having a cold, hard, unfeeling heart does protect from the pain that love brings. Yet, the lifeless cold of isolation, in the end, I feel would be much worse. For our deepest longings seem to be connected firmly to the reality of the thirst for love.
In that, we bear the image of Christ Jesus.
If anyone suffers more than all others combined, it would be Jesus. Our eternal High Priest. His Heart (Sacred Heart), never closes, but embraces all of His children with a love that is beyond our reach, and yes, understanding. At least it is for me. There are many souls who are way beyond my experience of the embrace of Infinite Love.
I do believe, that God is always at work in our hearts, and it may be that it is only at our deaths that we come to understand all that we have had to go through.
Life usually does not go the way we would want it to. Yet we continue to seek to consummate our deepest longing, which is to love, and be loved, totally without limit. No human can give that, though personal relationships are healing and important. Yet even the deepest, most loving, and trusting relationship can only take us so far. The more we love, truly, the deeper we see the other, yet being finite we can only do so much for one another. Until one learns of the reality of God’s presence, even in the midst of deep pain and struggle, and the existential experiences of loneliness, can our deepest inner thirst be assuaged.
Those who love God, and grow into loving God, for God’s sake experience this presence even in the worst of times. The freedom grows not to withdraw when life does not go the way we would want it to.
Compassion is needed for all. The more we understand our longing, and face our own inner pain and struggles, the easier it is to understand others. It is the key, empathy, to enter into the lives of others so deeply, that judgment is not part of the equation, but only a desire to love and to help, and yes to learn to forgive by the grace of God. It is a long slow process. It is trust that allows us to continue.
These are three quotes from Sister Faustina:
20. “All grace flows from mercy, and the last hour abounds with mercy for us. Let no one doubt concerning the goodness of God; even if a person’s sins were as dark as night, God’s mercy is stronger than our misery.”
- St. Faustina.
21. "I received a deeper understanding of divine mercy. Only that soul who wants it will be damned, for God condemns no one."
- St. Faustina.
22. "Help me O Lord, that my hands may be merciful and filled with good deeds, so that I may do only good to my neighbors."
23.There is no one beyond God’s mercy unless the soul freely rejects it. This reality is perhaps one of the deepest mysteries to ponder upon.
When saying the Chaplet of Mercy, remember, we are praying for everyone, without regard to what the person believes, or what that individual is to us, or even our feelings positive or negative. In that, we are healed of many wounds. To show mercy for others is to, in the end, allow God’s mercy to wound us so as to heal us more deeply.-Br.MD
