Embracing Suffering | Reflection

You must accept your cross; if you bear it courageously it will carry you to heaven. – St. John Vianney

For years I believed the lie that “I wasn’t supposed to suffer” the lie that a hard life meant I was doing something wrong. I envied those who seemed to have everything easy, and my envy drove me to try to find some way to love that easy life free from suffering. I made this idea my golden calf, and worse, I feared suffering.

Until I was broken. Until my deceptions, delusions, and misdeeds brought me to a place of nothingness. Where my soul itself was ground into dust, and I had nothing left but suffering. It consumed me. Everything hurt, everything was pain. I was surrounded by darkness.

But God in His infinite mercy saw it fit to rescue me. To pull me from the mire. To remove me from the pig pen, and set straight my crooked ways. And in that divine rescue, I learned how important suffering is. I learned what it meant to take up my cross to follow Him. I understood redemptive suffering, and I EMBRACED it.

Your cross truly is a gift. One designed and custom fit for you. Permitted so that you may too embrace it, to follow Christ. Because without the cross, without suffering, there is no redemption. There is no growth. There is no change.

So embrace your cross. And allow it to carry you to heaven.

Find the written reflection, and quote used for todays show on @DoThe_HarderThing Instagram.

Disclaimer: Not all views expressed in this show by the host or any of the guests, past or future, represent Catholic Spiritual Direction or anyone associated with Catholic Spiritual Direction.

The purpose of the show is to facilitate an engaging and thoughtful conversation with the desire and goal of deepening all aspects and understanding of the Catholic Faith. This requires asking hard questions, engaging in conversations that may be uncomfortable, intellectual honesty, and above all, full allegiance and surrender to Christ and His Church. Thank you for listening.