On Bearing with the Defects of Others...

Taken from : The Imitation of Christ , Book 1, Chapter 16, pg. 36-38


There will always be defects in ourselves or others in which we cannot correct. These we must simply tolerate until God in His goodness sees fit to change things. After all, this may be the best possible way to prove our patience, without which our good qualities are not worth much.

Nevertheless, you must pray earnestly that God in His mercy will help you to bear these impediments with patience.

2. If once or twice you have warned someone and that person does not comply, do not contend further with such a one, but leave all in the hands of God, that His will be done and that He be glorified in all His servants, for He knows well how to turn evil into good.

Learn how to be patient in enduring the faults of others, remembering that you yourself have many which others have put up with. If you cannot make yourself be what you would like, how can you expect others to be as you would like? We wish to see perfection in others, but do not correct our own faults.

3.We want to have others strictly reprimanded for their offenses, but we will not be reprimanded ourselves. We are inclined to think the other person has too much liberty, we ourselves will not put up with any restraint. There must be rules for everyone else, but we must be given free rein. It is seldom that we consider our neighbor equally with ourselves.

If everyone was perfect, what would we have to endure for the love of God?

4. God wills us to learn to bear one another's burdens. No one is without faults, no one without a cross, no one self-sufficient and no one wise enough all alone. Therefore, we must support, comfort and assist one another, instructing and admonishing one another in all charity.

Adversity is the best test of virtue. The occasions of sin do not weaken anyone; on the contrary, they show the person's true worth.


Some advice from St. Therese:

To remain little is to recognize our nothingness. To expect everything from the good God and not to be too much afflicted about our faults, for little children
fall often but are too small to hurt themselves.

Christ's Peace be with you!
~Erin

Carrying your Cross, by Mother Luisita

A Letter From Mother Luisita About
Carrying Your Cross


My dear child,

In this life we shouldn't live without a cross. It is true that wherever we go we will find the cross. And woe to us if it were not so. God our Lord sends us whatever sufferings are beneficial to us so that we may be purified and practice virtue. How could we practice patience if the opportunity to be patient never presented itself? And it is the same with the other virtues. How can we enrich our souls if we never practice any virtue? According to the love that God has for us and the place He's destined in heaven for us, He provides us with the means to beautify our souls. Oh, my child, let us love the cross! Let's embrace it and see it as the proof of the love of a crucified God.

Our Lord Himself will be your reward. You will see what a prize He has prepared for you in exchange for your efforts in your work and for so many things that one suffers in this world. Wherever we are, we find Calvary and we learn how hard it is to go up that hill, but after we reach the summit, we possess heaven.

Forward, my child. Suffer with joy whatever the good Lord sends you. That's a very good thing to do. But don't suffer and complain. No. Not that. God our Lord loves you very much and awaits your little victories with affection. Don't expect to acquire sanctity in any other way than by conquering yourself and by doing little things which will enable your soul to attain the necessary strength to endure greater troubles.

It doesn't matter if we are trampled upon, if it becomes a means of raising ourselves up closer to God, and once elevated to God, may we remain that way. We have to be strong and valiant with ourselves and not let suffering get the best of us. All pain is transitory, and as Our Holy Mother Saint Teresa tells us, any pain that is not eternal, is no pain at all.

Sometimes it seems as if the crosses are falling from every angle and, indeed, life can seem a long martyrdom. It's not a matter of dying. Rather, it is a matter of living with contradictions and difficulties. Sometimes heaven itself will turn into bronze, but let nothing disturb you and nothing frighten you.

We grieve when Divine Providence uses the hammer and chisel to polish our souls, turning them into precious stones worthy to enter the building of the heavenly Jerusalem. Suffer, then, and wait. Pray and expect. Whenever we feel tired or exhausted, without strength and longing for a moment of rest...it is a great consolation to be able to say, My troubles resemble those of my Savior.

My child, don't worry. Rather, thank God infinitely for choosing you to follow Him in this manner. Let's praise Him in everything because all that happens is for our own good. Try to fulfill your duties the best way you can and do them for God alone.

If you examine the lives of the saints, you'll discover that there is no way to heaven except the road covered with thorns. At every step they pinch us and make us bleed. Let us bless our good God in every circumstance in our lives, and, smiling, let us look up toward heaven.

- Mother Luisita


Mother Luisita was declared Venerable by Pope John Paul II and founded the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles during the religious persecution in Mexico.

The Letter

Dear friend,

How are you? I just had to send a note to tell you how much I care about you.

I saw you yesterday as you were talking with your friends. I waited all day hoping you would want to talk with me too.

I gave you a sunset to close your day and a cool breeze to rest you and I waited. You never came. It hurt me! But still I love you

because I am your friend.

I saw you sleeping last night and longed to touch your brow so I spilled moonlight upon your face. Again I waited, and wanted to

rush down so we could talk. I have so many gifts for you. You awoke and rushed off to work. My tears were in the rain.

If you would only listen to me! I love you! I try to tell you in the blue skies and the quiet green grass. I whisper it in the leaves on

the trees and breathe it in colors of flowers, shout it to you in mountain streams, give the birds love songs to sing. I clothe you

with sunshine and perfume the air the nature scents. My love for you is deeper than the oceans, and bigger than the biggest

need in your heart!

Ask Me! Talk to me! Please don't forget me! I have so much to share with you! I won't hassle you any further. It is your decision.

I have chosen you and I still wait.

I love you. Your friend,
Jesus

Taken from a prayer card called *The Letter