God's Bucket List: Heaven's Surefire Way to Happiness in This Life and Beyond by Tomeo Teresa

Author:Tomeo, Teresa [Tomeo, Teresa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Doubleday Religious Publishing Group
Published: 2013-11-05T00:00:00+00:00

Monsignor Bugarin went on to write:

I recall one of our teens saying it was better he had a terminal illness than either of his siblings. He knew God had given it to him for a reason. He would often visit other oncology pediatric patients while he himself was receiving chemotherapy. He wasn’t focused on himself but looked for ways he could teach others through his illness. He turned his cross into something redemptive for himself and for those around him.

As Monsignor explained, the effort this young man made to step outside of his own pain helped him and the other patients realize they were not alone. In the famous Peace Prayer of Saint Francis, we are told among other things, that “it is in giving that we receive.” The young cancer patient was greeted during his hospital “rounds” by plenty of warm smiles and thank-yous. By giving others encouragement, he received even more encouragement in return.

Not every tribulation we go through is going to result in some sort of ministry. My theory is, however, that suffering should never go to waste. If nothing else, we can simply become better at making the most of some pretty unpleasant situations. Three of my favorite female saints—Saint Teresa of Ávila, Saint Catherine of Siena, and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux—are great role models for all Christians, and they can help us not only with such big issues as serious illness, relationship problems, or career crises, but with those everyday annoyances like traffic jams, minor aches and pains, and the coworkers, nasty neighbors, and other people in our life who drive us nuts.

At the age of seven, Saint Catherine of Siena dedicated her virginity to Christ. It’s probably no surprise that women seven hundred years ago didn’t have too many options. Marrying into a wealthy family was seen as a way to secure a young girl’s future. So imagine the surprise and dismay of Catherine’s parents when they learned that at such a young age, their daughter had made up her mind not to marry. They were stunned but believed she was going through a phase that would surely wear off and continued in their efforts to find their daughter a suitable husband. As the years went by, they kept pushing. Catherine, however, kept pushing right back.

Determined to make her point about already being bound in spiritual matrimony to God, and to make herself less attractive to the young Sienese suitors, Catherine cut off all her beautiful hair. Her mother was so upset that, to punish her, she made Catherine perform the tasks of a servant girl, certain that after a few days of cooking and cleaning for her huge family, which included two dozen siblings, Catherine would give in and agree to marry. Can you imagine what cooking and cleaning for a clan that size must have been like in fourteenth-century Italy? Given the hard labor involved, most would consider Catherine’s situation quite a cross. Instead, Catherine truly said yes to the mess. When

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.