I Take off the MASK!

“We cannot take a single step towards heaven.
It is not In our power to travel in a vertical direction.
If however we look heavenward for a long time, God comes and takes us up.
He raises us easily.”
-Simone Weil

Let God console you. Let His be the arms you run to in your time of need. For once, try to put your concerns upon His hands instead of holding them with your own. Seek not your consolation upon futile things or fragile people. Seek comfort in the heart of Him who truly knows how to love.

Fear not your momentary sorrow. Worry not for the emptiness you may feel. After you empty your heart of things that only fail you, you shall be filled with the sweetness you truly seek.

So be still and run away no more. Shut the door until the noise of the world is gone. In prayer and silence shall your strength be. And in a gentle whisper, you will hear the voice of God.

“You will be saved in returning and rest. Your strength will be in quietness and in confidence.” -Isaiah 30:15 WEB

“Patience is power.
Patience is not an absence of action;
rather it is “timing”
it waits on the right time to act,
for the right principles
and in the right way.”
-Fulton J. Sheen

Patience is the strength of a man with purpose. He does not fear of being drawn away from his dreams because he knows that achieving them is only a matter of time. He is neither worrisome nor quick tempered. He knows that these things will only hinder him from reaching his heart’s true desires.

Rather than be troubled, he waits patiently for the right time. He saves his strength for the right moment. He inspires himself each day so he won’t give up just when he is about to reach his dreams.

He works without grumbling, but cheerfully while perfecting his skills. He doesn’t give in to temptations to take a quick route or a quick fix when such things will yield only temporary results.

Patience guides us to the right path and takes us away from thieves that take away the harvest we desire to reap.

“Put it in writing, because it is not yet time for it to come true. But the time is coming quickly, and what I show you will come true. It may seem slow in coming, but wait for it; it will certainly take place, and it will not be delayed.” – Habakkuk 2:3, GNT

Suffering will never be completely absent from our lives. So don’t be afraid of suffering. Your suffering is a great means of love, if you make use of it, especially if you offer it for peace in the world. 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, pains 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

When you suffer, you may be completely in the dark about the reason for your own suffering. It may seem as senseless to you as Jesus’s suffering [initially] seemed to the disciples. But the cross tells you what the reason isn’t. It can’t be that God doesn’t love you; it can’t be that he has no plan for you. It can’t be that he has abandoned you. [On the cross,] Jesus was abandoned, and paid for our sins, so that God the Father would never abandon you. The cross proves that he loves you and understand what it means to suffer. It also demonstrates that God can be working in your life even when it seems like there is no rhyme or reason to what is happening. – Timothy Keller

“Suffering can refine us rather than destroy us because God himself walks with us in the fire.”– Timothy Keller, Walking with God through Pain and Suffering

In spite of this trial, which takes all enjoyment from me, I can never the less, cry out, ‘Lord, you fill me with joy in all that you do. For is there a joy greater than to suffer for love?’ – St. Therese of Liseux

“Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say “My tooth is aching” than to say “My heart is broken.”- C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

“…when pain is to be born, a little courage helps more than much knowledge, a little human sympathy more than much courage, and the least tincture of the love of God more than all.”– C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

“You will save more souls through prayer and suffering than will a missionary through his teachings and sermons alone.” – Jesus to St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul

“Suffering is the greatest treasure on earth; it purifies the soul. In suffering, we learn who our true friend is.” – St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul

Your tears were collected by the angels and were placed in a golden chalice, and you will find them when you present yourself before God. – St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

“Love of God is pure when joy and suffering inspire an equal degree of gratitude.”– Simone Weil, Gravity and Grace

Love consists not in feeling great things but in having great detachment and in suffering for the Beloved. -St. John of the Cross

The brightest ornaments in the crown of the blessed in heaven are the sufferings which they have borne patiently on earth. – St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Time is but a shadow, a dream; already God sees us in Glory and takes joy in our eternal beatitude. How this thought helps my soul. I understand then why he lets us suffer. -St. Therese of Lisieux

When I think of the happiness that is in store for me, every sorrow, every pain becomes dear to me. -St. Francis of Assisi

Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow; the same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. – St Francis de Sales

The morrow of this day will be eternity; then Jesus will return you a hundred fold the lovely, rightful joys that you are sacrificing for him. – St. Therese of Lisieux

The heart of Christ can be seen through the openings of his wounds. For what can prove to me so clearly as your wounds that you, O Lord Jesus, are sweet & mild & plenteous in mercy. – St. Bernard

During painful times, when you feel a terrible void, think how the capacity of your soul is being enlarged so that it can receive God– becoming as it were, infinite as God is infinite. – St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Earth hath no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal. – St. Thomas Moore

Only one principle will give you courage, that is the principle that no evil lasts for ever, nor indeed for very long. – St. Epicuris

“One day, I saw two roads. One was broad, covered with sand and flowers, full of joy, music and all sorts of pleasures. People walked along it, dancing and enjoying themselves. They reached the end of the road without realizing it. And at the end of the road there was a horrible precipice; that is, the abyss of hell. The souls fell blindly into it; as they walked, so they fell. And there numbers were so great that it was impossible to count them. And I saw the other road, or rather, a path, for it was narrow and strewn with thorns and rocks; and the people who walked along it had tears in their eyes, and all kinds of suffering befell them. Some fell down upon the rocks, but stood up immediately and went on. At the end of the road there was a magnificent garden filled with all sorts of happiness, and all these souls entered there. At the very first instant they forgot all their sufferings.”
-Diary of Saint Faustina Kowalska

“We love only to the degree that we are willing to suffer.” – Fr. John Hardon, S.J.

Suffering enables us to see what is truly important. It takes away vain amusements. It reveals the lies that flatter us. It tests our will to confirm how far it is we are willing to sacrifice for someone we claim to love.

With suffering, we are taken away from our selfishness. We are not fooled anymore into believing we love someone just because of the things he or she is able to give us.

With suffering, we see how much we are willing to give without expecting anything in return. We are made to see how far we can give without recognition or praise.

Pure love seeks only the good of the beloved. It goes so far as to take upon oneself what’s difficult or even painful just to see our loved ones happy once again.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. – James 1:2-4, WEB-BE

“Suffering is a great grace; through suffering; the soul becomes like the Savior; in suffering love becomes crystallized; the greater the suffering the purer the love.” – St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My soul

Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. – Galatians 6:7, WEB

An iron wall may seem strong. We feel secure that it can’t easily be brought down by our enemies. But no matter how strong it may seem to be, it only takes rust to corrode it slowly. Time comes when the wall that seemed so strong collapses entirely because we have failed to remedy the one thing that caused it to fall down.

If we only knew the true weight of little things, we’d be more vigilant in dealing with them. If we only knew the big problems that come from our daily negligence, we’d remedy them before they ruin the important things in our lives.

Don’t neglect the little things. Don’t underestimate the small things that can ruin your health, your work or your relationships. Time seems to creep in ever so slowly, but it would soon reveal the harvest you have sown through the years.

“The safest road to hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” – C.S. Lewis