(Rom 8:16-17) For the Spirit himself giveth testimony to our spirit that we are the sons of God. And if sons, heirs also; heirs indeed of God and joint heirs with Christ: yet so, if we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him.
VATICAN NEWS: “They encourage us with their words: “Not I, but God,” as Carlo used to say. And Pier Giorgio: “If you have God at the center of all your actions, then you will reach the end.” This is the simple but winning formula of their holiness. It is also the type of witness we are called to follow, in order to enjoy life to the full and meet the Lord in the feast of heaven.”
EXCERPT: "The first reading today, we hear the words, "Behold, a great priest who in his days pleased God and was found just in the time of wrath. He was made a reconciliation." Well, I don't think it's going to take a genius to recognize that we're living in a time of wrath. Things continue to ratchet up. The anger level is just through the roof. The violence keeps getting worse. And it's going to keep getting worse.
But we have to be able to look at what God is calling us to because the day is going to come when God is finally going to have enough of this nonsense and he'll take care of it himself because it's the only way it's going to work. But in the meantime for those who are called, for instance especially the pope the bishops but any priest, is supposed to be that reconciliation.
However, it's interesting that Our Lady has made it very clear that her triumph of her Immaculate Heart is going to happen through a small army of victim souls. Not generally priests and bishops because most of them aren't willing to do it but chosen souls whom God is allowing to suffer to be that reconciliation to be the ones offering sacrifice to the Lord. Obviously we have the sacrifice of Christ which is infinite and beyond all others. But it is the charity of the hearts of these people who are willing to suffer in union with Jesus to offer their sufferings in union with the sacrifice of the Holy Mass. That's where the power that is going to convert souls comes from. That's where the power that's going to purify the church comes from."
NCR: The Bible Says Your Suffering Can Help Save Others SUBSTACK: One article from the revelations of Jesus to Sister Josefa Menendez in the book The Way of Divine Love explained what it means to be a victim soul in such a profound way that it took my understanding of this mystery to a whole new level. It helped me understand that the more He allows us to suffer, the more He loves us because it’s that suffering that brings us closer to Him on the cross and removes the impurities in our souls that act as barriers between Him and us. I came away from this article with the understanding that I’m not suffering alone, and that my suffering, in a unique way, is playing a part in carrying out God’s plan of salvation for myself and the world.
PRAYERS FOR OFFERING UP SUFFERING: We start first with this well-known prayer Our Lady taught the three Fatima visionaries, the children Lucia Dos Santos, and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, in 1917, to be said when offering up sufferings, sacrifices, or penances:
Oh my Jesus, I offer this for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
In a similar vein, we offer this prayer:
Dear Lord, Help me to remember in these troubled times The cross you carried for my sake, So that I may better carry mine And to help others do the same, As I offer up (whatever your concern or problem here) to you For the conversion of sinners For the forgiveness of sins In reparation for sins And for the salvation of souls. Amen
Here’s a shorter version that expresses the same sentiment:
Dear Lord, I offer you (whatever your concern or problem here) For the conversion of sinners For the forgiveness of sins In reparation for sins and For the salvation of souls. Amen.
As the well-known Catholic author Peter Kreeft once wrote in this article, our suffering can help both ourselves and others we may not even know. As he put it "If we are 'in Christ', we, like him, can offer up our sufferings to the Father—and he uses them. They become seeds, or rainwater, and something beautiful springs up that we seldom see in this life." This concept of redemptive suffering is one of those wonderful divine mysteries, much like our Lord’s Incarnation and His Resurrection that we as human beings will never fully be able to explain but that can give our lives so much meaning. Our sufferings can have a purpose!
3. If every prophet goes unhonoured in his own country, as the Lord says, then us beware lest our exile should be for us an occasion of vainglory. For exile is separation from everything in order to keep the mind inseparable from God. Exile loves and produces continual weeping. An exile is a fugitive from every relationship with his own people and with strangers.