More Food for Thought

> “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. Still, let it be as you would have it, not as I.” (Matthew 26:39)

> “Mary said: ‘I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me as you say.” (Luke 1:38)

> “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Have faith in God and faith in me.” (John 14:1)

> “…We even boast of our afflictions. We know that affliction makes for endurance, and endurance for tested virtue, and tested virtue for hope. And this hope will not leave us disappointed, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5)

> “I consider the sufferings of the present to be as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:19)

> “We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who have been called according to his decree.” (Romans 8:28)

> “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it so much as dawned on man what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians2:9)

> “Praised be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all consolation. He comforts us in all our afflictions and thus enables us to comfort those who are in trouble, with the same consolation we have received from him. As we have shared much in the suffering of Christ, so through Christ do we share abundantly in his consolation.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5

FOOD FOR THOUGHT AND PRAYER

* Jesus did not come to explain away suffering or remove it. He came to fill it with his presence (Paul Claudel)

* If you must suffer, suffer at least with joy. (Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ)

*No one is so deeply touched by Christ’s passion as he who has experienced like sufferings. (Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ)

*To endure the cross is not tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

*He who seeks not the cross of Christ seeks not the glory of Christ (St. John of the Cross)

*Suffering for God is better than working miracles (St. John of the Cross)

*How good God really is. How He parcels out trials only according to the strength He gives us. (St. Thererse of Lisieux)

*Suffering in and of itself is useless, but suffering that is shared with the passion of Christ is a wonderful gift and a sign of love. Christ’s suffering proved to be a gift, the greatest gift of love, because through his suffering our sins were atoned for.. Suffering, pain, sorrow, humiliation, feelings of loneliness, are nothing but the kiss of Jesus, a sign that you have come so close that He can kiss you. (Mother Teresa, No Greater Love)

*The Cross is not a sign of death, but of life; not of frustration, but of hope; not of defeat, but of victory. (John Paul II, Angelus message, March 14, 1999)

These quotes come from an essay on suffering and cancer by the recently deceased Bishop of Fresno the Most Reverend John T. Steinbock. You can find it here www.dioceseoffresno.org/

"Cancer of itself is not a gift, but the grace to accept it, embrace it, and give thanks for it, is the greater gift of God within me, so that Jesus may continue his passion in me, so that Jesus may continue to glorify His Father in me, so Jesus may testify to His great love in my life, so that we may realize that a greater life awaits us." Bishop John T. Steinbock who passed away today.

Eternal rest, grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the Mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.