Don’t be so quick to flee from suffering. It is your path to Heaven.
“Love is not a feeling of happiness.
Love is a willingness to sacrifice.” ~Michael Novak
Is suffering pointless?
Life is full of suffering. If
there is a purpose to life, then there is purpose to suffering.
“I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that
life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” ~Rabindranath Tagore
"I get tired of the darkness all around me. The darkness itself seems to borrow, from the
sinners who live in it, the gift of speech. I hear its mocking accents: 'It's all a dream,
this talk of a heavenly country of a God who made it all, who is to be your
possession in eternity! All right, go on
longing for death! But death will make
nonsense of your hopes; it will only mean a night darker than ever, the night
of mere non-existence!" ~St.
Therese of Lisieux
Love cannot exist without sacrifice. Look at the cross to see the ultimate act of love.
“How I thirst for Heaven-that blessed habitation where our
love for Jesus will have no limit! But to get there we must suffer... we must
weep... Well, I wish to suffer all that shall please my Beloved, I wish to let
Him do just as He wills." ~St.
Therese of Lisieux in a Letter to Sr. Marie of the Sacred Heart
"We love only
to the degree that we are willing to suffer." ~Fr. John Hardon, S.J.
"If the angels were capable of envy, they would envy us
for two things: one is the receiving of Holy Communion, and the other is
suffering." ~Our Lord to Saint Faustina (p.1805 of
her Diary)
"If you really want to love Jesus, first learn to
suffer, because suffering teaches you to love." ~St. Gemma Galgani
“To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the
suffering.” ~Friedrich
Nietzsche
“The great artist is the man who most obviously succeeds in turning his
pains to advantage, in letting suffering deepens his understanding and
sensibility, in growing through his pains.”
~Walter
Kaufmann“
You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it.
That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why
you must sing and dance, and write poems and suffer and understand, for all
that is life.” ~Jiddu
Krishnamurti
Other Posts on Suffering and Sacrifice:
The Good Side of Suffering with DepressionThe Depression Epidemic
Sweatpants, Depression, and a Lenten Lesson
Prayer for Acceptance of God's Will
If you are feeling up for reading some deep stuff about Redemptive Suffering, check out this wonderful article.
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