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/