The trials of life can be difficult to endure. Often we resist them, refusing to accept the ways they change our lives.
Above all, we do not accept them from the hand of God.
St. Paul of the Cross, on the other hand, urged us to accept the trials that come our way and be like a rock (found in the book Flowers of the Passion).
Have you ever noticed rocks in the sea beaten by the tempest? A furious wave dashes against the rock another and yet another does likewise yet the rock is unmoved. But look at it after the storm has subsided and you will see that the flood has but served to wash and purify it of the defilement it had contracted during the calm.Hereafter I wish you to be as a rock. A wave dashes against you. Silence. It assails you ten, a hundred, a thousand times. Silence. Say at most in the midst of the storm, “My Father, my Father, I am all yours! O dear, O sweet will of God! I adore you!”
St. Paul is challenging us not to run away from a trial, but to face it head on, allowing it to purify our weaknesses.
The trials we experience are allowed by God so that we may be perfected. St. Paul of the Cross used another analogy to illustrate this truth.
The statue must be chiseled with very sharp tools before it is fit to be placed in the grand gallery.
When we accept the trials God allows, instead of resisting them, we can find peace in the storm.We know that God is in control and that we need to surrender to him.
He will take care of us and purify us of our weaknesses.
Read more:
A brief guide to meditation on Jesus’ Passion by St. Paul of the Cross
Read more:
7 Inspiring quotes from St. Paul of the Cross
And today we celebrate...