I have been praying and thinking a lot about the words of Padre Pio lately, 'Pray, hope and don't worry'. It seems such a super human thing to do; impossible for me really. Life throws so many curve balls in our direction, some of them very,very severe curve balls indeed. Who can stop worrying? It is as though someone asked me to climb Mount Everest without using my feet. I would put the words of the Great Saint in the dumpster then but they are supported of course in many counts by scripture, Matthew 6:26-34 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one a]">[a]cubit to his b]">[b]stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not c]">[c]arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. The follow on question of course is did Saints like Padre Pio never worry? When I was thinking about this I was looking at the Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour , which tells its very own story about worry and the future. http://catholicstraightanswers.com/what-is-the-story-behind-the-image-of-our-lady-of-perpetual-help/ The image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is an icon, painted on wood, and seems to have originated around the thirteenth century. Traditionally, the image is also known as “Our Lady of Perpetual Succour.” The icon (about 54 x 41.5 centimeters) depicts our Blessed Mother Mary, under the title “Mother of God,” holding the Child Jesus. The Archangels Michael and Gabriel, hovering in the upper corners, hold the instruments of the Passion– St. Michael (in the left corner) holds the spear, the wine-soaked sponge, and the crown of thorns, and St. Gabriel (in the right corner) holds the cross and the nails. The intent of the artist was to portray the Child Jesus contemplating the vision of His future Passion. The anguish He feels is shown by the loss of one of His sandals. Nevertheless, the icon also conveys the triumph of Christ over sin and death, symbolized by the golden background (a sign of the glory of the resurrection) and the manner in which the angels hold the instruments, i.e. like trophies gathered up from Calvary on Easter morning. In a very beautiful way, the Child Jesus grasps the hand of the Blessed Mother. He seeks comfort from His mother, as He sees the instruments of His passion. The position of Mary’s hands– both holding the Child Jesus (who seems like a small adult) and presenting Him to us– convey the reality of our Lord’s incarnation, that He is true God who became also true man. In iconography, Mary here is represented as the Hodighitria, the one who guides us to the Redeemer. She also is our Help, who intercedes on our behalf with her Son. The star painted on Mary’s veil, centered on her forehead, highlights her role in the plan of salvation as both the Mother of God and our Mother According to popular tradition, a merchant acquired the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help from the island of Crete and had it shipped to Rome towards the end of the fifteenth century. During the voyage, a terrible storm arose, threatening the lives of all on ship. The passengers and crew prayed to our Blessed Mother, and were saved. Once in Rome, the merchant, dying, ordered that the image should be displayed for public veneration. His friend, who retained the image, received further instructions: in a dream to his little daughter, the Blessed Mother appeared and expressed the desire for the image to be venerated in a Church between the Basilicas of St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran in Rome. The image, consequently, was housed at the Church of St. Matthew, and became known as “The Madonna of Saint Matthew.” Pilgrims flocked to the church for the next three hundred years, and great graces were bestowed upon the faithful. After Napoleon’s troops destroyed the Church of St. Matthew in 1812, the image was transferred to the Church of St. Mary in Posterula, and remained there for nearly forty years. There, the image was neglected and forgotten. By divine providence, the forgotten image was rediscovered. In 1866, Blessed Pope Pius IX entrusted the image to the Redemptorists, who had just built the Church of St. Alphonsus, down the street from St. Mary Major. As a boy, the Holy Father had prayed before the image in the Church of St. Matthew. He ordered the public display and veneration of the image, and fixed the feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help as the Sunday before the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. In 1867, when the image was being carried in a solemn procession through the streets, a young child was cured, the first of many recorded miracles attributed to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. To this day, the Church of St. Alphonsus displays the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and welcome pilgrims for prayer. May each of us never hesitate to invoke the prayers and intercession of Our Blessed Mother in time of need.
Did the Mother of God and the child Jesus then not worry when they came to understand that He was to die in such a terrible way? No what they did was to enter into prayer about it, to conform themselves to the Will of God. They were concerned about it, if you like but that was not the same as worrying about it like a dog with a bone...as I am inclined to do in fact. I was thinking about this during the week when I had a great worry at work. On the way home from work on Wednesday morning my boss phones me and asked what tie I had left? My work finished at 8:30 but I left *:15 as I always do, as all the other night shift worker do, as I have always done over he last 13 years. I took it as a little perk of the job. The day shift had long since come in to take over so we were kinda redundant. Well my boss went crazy when I told him. He asked me if this was a one off, I hate telling lies ; I told the truth that I always do it. He went crazier still and said he will see me next Monday morning. He told me I was in breach of contract. So there was a real danger next Monday I would loose my job and my pension at once. Well I tried to , 'Pray, hope and not worry', as Padre Pio said but it didn't seem to be making much of a fix of it for worrying just kept coming at me, I kept thinking about things like a dog with a bone. But there was a huge sense of peace and acceptance all the same and one that grew. One thing that helped was that in my prayer I was not only strong arming God for my own outcome but I was making specific suggestions to Him as to how to fix thing, like, 'Make him forget, 'Put him in a good mood on Monday or even maybe give him a little accident. This made me laugh the idea of setting God straight. I think these things must make God laugh too. The idea that God needs plans drawn. I also realisied that I was not really conformed to the Will of God, I wanted it my way. This birds eye view of things helped me a lot. But God helped me a lot in two phone calls I made to friends for help and advice. The first was to a friend in the Union who told me I was in big trouble and he would pray for me. Which was not too encouraging. The second was to my old boss, now retired. She actually laughed when I said I though he was going to fire me. She says the way the system worked was you get a verbal warning , then a written warning then a disciplinary hearing and so on...Her laugh was the sweetest thing I ever heard in a long time. I rung my Union friend back and he admitted he had overreacted and that I was on safe ground. So the Good Lord helped me out on two levels from grace alone and from the grace of friends advise. So I can't say I didn't worry. I can say I don't worry. But I can say I worry a lot less from having prayed. I feel so sorry for folks who have no Faith and so must wallow in a huge storm of worries. It also taught me a lot about the prayer of petition and not trying to strong arm God.
No, it is on Monday morning. I think when we pray to God we expect God to change, but it is not about God changing it is about us changing . For if we change then we permit God to act. I have found great graces in all this. I would not have gotten them if this had not happened. Please say a prayer that it all works out as God wants it to work out...and that I may more and more be resigned to how God wants it to work out. For if it works out how God wants it to work out, then how could it work out better?
I will pray and ask my best friend to pray as well. She is a prayer warrior though she doesn't believe it. My first thought was harassment from the enemy for your videos. But Christ permits it. I think your videos are over the target as they say and thus the flak.
What about all the other night shift workers? Why single you out? Definitely praying for you Padraig.
My Friday afternoon 3:00 Divine Mercy prayer group meets today. I will add you to our intention list. We pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament for an hour—very powerful!
Pray, Hope and don't Worry for me is all about living in the Divine Will. By no means am I an "expert" at it, but the bottom line is, all the saints understood this. This trusting completely on Divine assistance through an awareness of the Divine life within us and understanding that nothing can happen to us that God does not allow to more deepen our life within him. Suffering then becomes meaningful and our ongoing conversations with God, whom we bear within us, will only give us that which unites us even closer to his will and our ultimate good. Abandonment of our will to His is the hardest part of not worrying. Believing that God wants our holiness, infinitely more then we do ourselves, is something we must fully embrace to live in His Divine Will.
I struggle naturally with worry and anxiety - it is in my system so to speak and appears to have been inherited. Mostly I am fine but occasionally it flares up. It is so severe sometimes that it overwhelms my senses but then I literally join Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and this sorrowful mystery becomes my solace. I am good at hiding it but for me it is the greatest of all sufferings being in the garden of abandonment. Sometimes my faith is like a little thread hanging on to heaven for dear life. I really suffer so badly I cannot possibly explain it in human terms. Like today I was overwhelmed by it but got through my days work without anyone seeing it. If people could see what I suffer internally they would be most shocked. Give me physical suffering any time over mental anguish. But we need to surrender all to Him including our broken humanness. I love the Padre Pio prayer ----- 'pray, hope and don't worry' but struggle with the latter lol.
In my own journey , I sometimes am concerned/worry about the salvation of my children, relatives and friends, but knowing God hears and responds to all prayer, especially when topped off with sacrifice, I find peace. If I did not trust my prayer life and God's desire to see everyone be with him in heaven infinitely more then myself, perhaps I would worry allot. When confusion or worry try to steal my peace, I say Jesus I Trust in You and know God loves more then I ever could. Total abandonment to his will has been essential for me to be at peace, no matter what happens.
This has, of course occurred to me as well. I have no idea if he has, in fact, approached them too. I will see.
I will pray for your situation too Padraig. Times seem to be getting harder all around we are all getting a touch lol.
I love the prayer, 'I believe, Lord increase my Faith'. Mark 9:24 The Boy with an Evil Spirit …23“If You can?” echoed Jesus. “All things are possible to him who believes!” 24Immediately the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!” 25When Jesus saw that a crowd had come running, He rebuked the unclean spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” He said, “I command you to come out and never enter him again.”… At this time of year our eyes turn to the night of Christ's Birth. St Joseph perhaps the Greatest of all the Saints had a very heavily pregnant wife about to give birth and had already been refused lodgings at three Inns. What was he to do? I read many accounts that suggest he was very,very worried indeed. I would so understand it if he was. But the Spiritual indications are that he was not. Certainly I find it so easy to believe Our Blessed Mother was not. But regarding such heroic virtue I feel like a little ant staring up at Red Wood Pine Tree. It just seems so totally beyond me. So far beyond me as to seem hardly credible.. But I love this. It gives me something to aim for.
Yes but I think with Faith the size of mine like a little Mustard Seed takes a little time to grow so that the birds can shelter in my branches. I think at the present the birds would eat the seed rather than take shelter.
Yes. It is so true. Different challenges for each of us but it feels like the "opposition party" has stepped up his game--so to speak.
If St Joseph was concerned yet continued in spite of fear and worry then that is heroic virtue. If he just skated along with no concerns at all that to me is the worst kind of hagiography. (Apologies to St Jozeph if I am wrong but to me he is/was a real man in real time up against a mountain of difficulty. Yet he persevered and did the best he could for Mary in the midst of harrowing circumstances. But I am sure there was some anxiety there.
My feeling is that God is getting us ready for something really big. It is probably a year or two down the road yet but He is going pull the rug from under our society's comfortable feet!
