Roman Catholic Spiritual Direction

Reflection on suffering and longing for God – St. Teresa of Avila

Posted Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 4:00 am under Meditations, Prayers of the Saints, Saints and Blesseds
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Communion-of-St-Teresa-of-Avila-xx-Claudio-CoelloWoe is me, woe is me, Lord, how very long has been this exile! And it passes with great sufferings of longing for my God! Lord, what can a soul placed in this prison do? O Jesus, how long is the life of humans, even though it is said to be short! It is short, my God, for gaining through it a life that cannot end; but it is very long for the soul that desires to come into the presence of its God. What remedy do You provide for this suffering? There isn’t any, except when one suffers for you.

Soliloquies  – #15

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  • Mary

    Hello Father. I was wondering if you might help me with this. I pray quite a bit. I pray, mostly because I have had some suffering in my life that has drained me, even spiritually. I pray for many things, but mostly, I pray for my own faith. One day, as I was praying, I said to Christ, “I feel like I'm alone in my suffering, yet I am asked to reflect and meditate on Your suffering” After I prayed and asked that question, I had a sort of internal answer to it. I heard, or felt Christ say to me, “I suffer when you suffer. Why wouldn't I? We're in this together. We are one body” I thought about that and, actually couldn't believe that Christ suffers with me. The question is, was that internal answer correct? I had never thought in all my life that Christ suffers with me, so it came as a shock. Then, I looked it up on the Internet and found out that, while we are asked to suffer for Christ, He also feels our suffering and actually feels bad for us. That notion has helped me a great deal, because I feel more connected to Christ as being a real person with real feelings.

    • danburke

      Dear Mary in Christ – good question. I sent it on to Father John and will post the answer soon – maybe Monday…

    • danburke

      Dear Mary in Christ – good question – I have an answer back from Father John – probably will post on Monday.