Scripture for
meditation: Job 1:20-22
Then Job began to tear his cloak and cut off his hair He
cast himself prostrate upon the ground, and said, “Naked came I forth from my
mother’s womb, and naked shall I go back again. The Lord gave and the Lord has
taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!” In all this Job did not sin, nor
did he say anything disrespectful of God.
Scripture for
reflection: Luke 12: 8-10
“I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men – The Son
of Man will acknowledge him before the angels of God. But the man who has
disowned me in the presence of men will be disowned in the presence of the
angels of God.”
St. Theresa of
Avila tells us: “For sometimes it seemed that sharp teeth were biting into
me…. With the continuous fever and the great lack of strength…I was so
shriveled and wasted away…that my nerves began to shrink causing such unbearable
pains that I found no rest either by day or by night – a very deep sadness….
The pains were what exhausted me, for they were like one continuous entity
throughout my whole body, from head to foot. Pain of the nerves is unbearable,
as doctors affirm, and since my nerves were all shrunken, certainly it was a
bitter torment…. I remained in this excruciating state no more than three
months, for it seemed impossible to be able to suffer so many ills together.
Now I am amazed; and I consider the patience His Majesty gave me a great favor
from the Lord, for this patience was clearly seen to come from Him. It greatly
profited me to have read the story of Job…for it seems the Lord prepared me by
this means, together with my having begun to experience prayer, so that I could
be able to bear the suffering with so much conformity to His will. All my
conversations were with Him. I kept these words of Job very habitually in my
mind and recited them: Since we receive
good things from the hand of the Lord why do we not suffer the evil things? This,
it seems, gave me great strength (The
Collected Works of St. Theresa of Avila, Volume One, translated by Kieran
Kavanaugh, O.C.D., and Otilio Rodriguez, O.C.D., Institute of Carmelite Studies
Publications, 1987).
Prayer: O Lord,
I confess Your great power. If You are powerful, as You are, what is impossible
for you who can do everything? Please, my Lord, give the order, give the order,
for although I am miserable, I firmly believe You can do what You desire. And
the more I hear of Your greater marvels, and consider that You can add to them,
the more my faith is strengthened; and I believe with greater determination
that You will do this. What is there to marvel at in what the Almighty does?
You know well, my God, that in the midst of all my miseries I never failed to
acknowledge Your great power and mercy. May that in which I have not offended
You, Lord, help me. Recover, my God, the lost time by giving me grace in the
present and future so that I may appear before You with wedding garments; for
if You want to, You can do so.
My thoughts: Like many of us, St. Theresa of Avila led a
very painful life. Unlike many of us, she never once lost her vision of her
loving Father through all her pain and torment. Like Job, she remained faithful
and never said anything “disrespectful of God.” St. Theresa of Avila is a
doctor of the Church; she passed through her intense illnesses and went on to
become a saint. So can we. When the great deceiver tries to lead us astray by
telling us this horrible suffering is because God has abandoned us, tell him to
go back to his horrible home. Claim the Lord’s love for you, ask Him for
strength to hang on, receive the Sacrament of the Sick, and call into your life
other people who can pray for you when you can’t. Most importantly, offer up
the suffering for some cause. St. Theresa, in this book, states that she wishes
she had caught on the redemptive aspect of suffering a little sooner. God never
gives us more than we can handle; just hold onto His hand and let others help
you as well. We all need help in our times of suffering. Be there for others,
and let others be there for you. And never stop believing in God. He will never
stop believing in you.
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