In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Life must be lived in a perspective of eternity. If we only think about the four or five days of
this world, then, the most logical thing is that we only think about having fun and enjoying life.
But, in the end, we will have wasted our time and our life. And what a sadness will be felt
at the last moment, when one realizes that he has lived only for this world, without thinking
of the eternity that awaits us! In addition, time passes so quickly that those who are young now, in
a very short time, will be old and soon they will be elderly. Therefore, you have to think about
Eternity, without neglecting to work in this life to attain it. But you have to live for eternity.
Many men waste their lives on pleasures and adventures.
Many waste their time doing nothing or working so hard that they don't even have time to think.
And they want to always be young. The value of the human being is not in his youth or in his money
or in his appearance or in his titles, but in his heart. A man, with a heart full of love, is worth
immensely more than a man empty inside, who goes along aimlessly and whose life has no meaning.
Therefore, live your life fully, live your life with hope, live your life with love.
Life is a gift from God, a treasure that God has given you so that you can grow in his love.
Life is like a book in which every day you must write the most beautiful pages.
It doesn't matter, if you are sick in bed or if you are in a wheelchair,
your life is worth as much to God as that of any human being, who walks down the street and
is working all day. Your life is worth as much as your love. The more you love, the more you
are worth to God. Your life belongs to God, do not forget it, and to God it must return.
Your life will only have meaning to the extent that you live with love for God and live for God,
only in this way will you fulfill yourself as a person and you will truly be fully happy.
Illness is a treasure for those who know how to love.
The person who has not suffered, does not know what it is to truly love,
because suffering is the soul of love and love has its roots in the shape of a cross.
The more you love, the more capacity you have to suffer for the person you love.
And I ask you: how much do you love God? How much are you capable of suffering for Him?
Are you able to give your life for his love like the martyrs?
When pain knocks on your door, do not rebel against God, offer it with love. Suffering
with love is the most precious pearl that you can offer to your Father God.
Therefore, I say to you, sick brother; to you who are puzzled by the injustice of life, to you who
walk hand in hand with suffering since your birth, to you who wonder about the meaning of your life.
To you, sick brother, I say from God, that your life is precious in his eyes. He has even the
hairs on your head numbered, as Jesus says. Do not be sorry or cry bitterly over your situation.
Think that "God allows everything for our good" (Romans 8:28). You will ask me:
Why has God punished me in this way? Why do I have to suffer from this incurable disease?
When will this be over? Why has God taken my loved ones? Why? Why? And you could keep asking
me many more questions. I can't answer you. Only Jesus Christ, who suffered more than you,
who is your God and loves you infinitely, could answer you. Sick brother, listen to me,
I want to speak to your heart, with sincerity. One of the greatest penalties you can suffer
is your loneliness. I already know that others cannot understand the depth of your inner pain.
But Jesus, who has suffered more than you, can understand you. Go to Him at this very moment and
tell Him to open your eyes of your soul so you can understand the meaning of your life and your pain.
God has a special mission for you, which he has not entrusted to anyone else.
Perhaps it is a mission not very bright, perhaps it is hidden and dark in the eyes of
the world, but because of this, it is not less important. You are infinitely valuable to God.
Jesus died for you and loves you infinitely. Don't be discouraged. Look up, look at Jesus nailed to
the cross and tell him: Lord, thank you for my life. Thank you for dying for me on the cross.
Thank you for having a wonderful plan for me. Thank you because despite all my rebellions and
all my fears and rejections, you continue to be patient with me and love me despite everything.
Thank you, because you made me like this. Thank You my Lord.
I offer you my life and I offer you my love with all the kisses and flowers of my heart.
Amen. Let's remember that God our Father speaks to us through the Bible to make us understand
the meaning of suffering and not fall into the temptation to believe that it is a punishment,
as the ancient Jews believed. When Jesus saw the man blind from birth, the disciples asked him:
"Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should have been born blind? Neither he nor
his parents sinned, Jesus answered, he was born blind so that the works of God might be revealed
in him."(John 9:2-3). On another occasion, "It was just about this time that some people arrived
and told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with that of their sacrifices.
At this he said to them: Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than any others,
that this should have happened to them? They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you
will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen on whom the tower at Siloam fell, killing them all?
Do you suppose that they were more guilty than all the other people living in Jerusalem? They
were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did." (Luke 13:1-5).
As we see, Jesus is telling us that those who die by accident or other violent causes
are not necessarily more guilty than others, as if premature death were a punishment from God.
Rather, we see that Jesus, with his life and with his death, achieves salvation for us to make us
understand the redemptive value of suffering. For this reason, Saint Paul is able to say: "And yet
I am alive; yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me. The life that I am now living,
subject to the limitation of human nature, I am living in faith, faith in the Son of God who loved
me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20). If you cannot bear your suffering,
look at Christ crucified and read in Isaiah chapter 52 verse 14 to chapter 53 verse 12
"As many people were aghast at him -- he was so inhumanly disfigured that he no longer looked like
a man he was despised, the lowest of men, a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering, one from whom,
as it were, we averted our gaze, despised, for whom we had no regard. Yet ours were the
sufferings he was bearing, ours the sorrows he was carrying, while we thought of him as someone
being punished and struck with affliction by God; whereas he was being wounded for our rebellions,
crushed because of our guilt; the punishment reconciling us fell on him,
and we have been healed by his bruises. We had all gone astray like sheep, each taking his own way,
and Yahweh brought the acts of rebellion of all of us to bear on him. Ill-treated and afflicted,
he never opened his mouth, like a lamb led to the slaughter-house, like a sheep dumb before
its shearers he never opened his mouth. Forcibly, after sentence, he was taken.
Which of his contemporaries was concerned at his having been cut off from the land of the living,
at his having been struck dead for his people's rebellion? He was given a grave with the wicked,
and his tomb is with the rich, although he had done no violence, had spoken no deceit.
Hence I shall give him a portion with the many, and he will share the booty with the mighty,
for having exposed himself to death and for being counted as one of the rebellious, whereas he was
bearing the sin of many and interceding for the rebellious." Now read the Gospel:
"Meanwhile the men who guarded Jesus were mocking and beating him." (Luke 22:63). "and
having twisted some thorns into a crown they put this on his head and placed a reed in his
right hand. To make fun of him they knelt to him saying, 'Hail, king of the Jews!' And they
spat on him and took the reed and struck him on the head with it." (Matthew 27:29-30). And you,
how many times have you mistreated him and made fun of him and even crucified him with your sins?
Therefore, ask him for forgiveness, look at him crucified and give him your comfort and your love.
But don't forget that your suffering alone is worth nothing.
It is only valid when you offer it with love and for the love of God and others.
For this reason, Christ from his cross invites you to unite yourself to him and to offer yourself
with him for the salvation of the world. Which is not to say that when you're sick,
you shouldn't go to the doctor. Yes, you must do everything possible on your part to heal yourself,
if you are sick; But, when you suffer despite everything, you must offer it and not waste so
many blessings that God can give you through the suffering accepted and offered with love.
Your Father God tells you in Sirach chapter 39 from verse 9 to verse 14: "My child,
when you are ill, do not rebel, but pray to the Lord and he will heal you. Renounce your faults,
keep your hands unsoiled, and cleanse your heart from all sin.
Offer incense and a memorial of fine flour, make as rich an offering as you can afford.
Then let the doctor take over -- the Lord created him too -- do not let him leave you,
for you need him. There are times when good health depends on doctors.
For they, in their turn, will pray the Lord to grant them the grace to relieve and to heal,
and so prolong your life." (Ecclesiasticus / Sirach 39:9-14). And, when you suffer too
much and can no longer bear so much pain, listen to your Father God who tells you:
"And now, thus says Yahweh, he who created you, Jacob, who formed you, Israel: Do not be afraid,
for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name, you are mine. Should you pass
through the waters, I shall be with you; or through rivers, they will not swallow you up.
Should you walk through fire, you will not suffer, and the flame will not burn you. For I am Yahweh,
your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt for your ransom,
Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Since I regard you as precious, since you are honored and I love
you, I therefore give people in exchange for you, and nations in return for your life. Do not be
afraid, for I am with you." (Isaiah 43:1-5). Or what Jesus says to Jairo, when his daughter dies:
"...'Do not be afraid; only have faith." (Mark 5:36). And, at all times, He promises us relief
and comfort in our pain: "Come to me, all you who labor and are overburdened, and I will give you
rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will
find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light." (Matthew 11:28-30). Go to
Jesus right now and ask him to fulfill his promise and give you his PEACE. Dear Jesus, thank you for
listening to me, but I lack patience in the face of pain. Sometimes I am desperate. Help me, Lord,
I am counting on You and I trust You. Thank you for your love and thank you for your peace. Amen.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.