Day 19 – Wednesday, March 22
Today we think about suffering.
No one likes to think about suffering, because it’s not fun. Yet, we all suffer in some way. Maybe you are sick or maybe someone is mean
to you at school? Maybe you get a bad
grade or fall at recess? Maybe you feel
lonely or sad? Maybe you lost something
or worse someone close to you? Maybe you
stood up for your faith and got laughed at?
All of these are ways we suffer.
St. Thérèse reminds us that the question to ask is ‘do we suffer well?’
What does that mean? When something bad
happens, do we give it to Jesus, pray, and try our best to suffer with joy as a
sacrifice of love for Jesus? We all
suffer in some way, but we can turn this sadness into a beautiful gift of love
by giving it over to Jesus with a hopeful heart!
In
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Oh heavenly Father, thank you for always providing for us. Please help us to remember to think of you
when we suffer. Help us to turn our
suffering into a gift of love to you.
Help us to suffer well!
St. Thérèse teaches
us:
“It’s
true, I suffer a great deal – but do I suffer well? That is the question. ” – Last Conversations
Lord
Jesus, on Holy Thursday you prayed in the garden for the cup of suffering to
pass by you, but then you said to our heavenly Father “not my will but yours be
done.” You then took the scourging, the
crown of thorns, the carrying of the cross and being crucified, all because you
love us! You died for our salvation even
while we were still sinners. You took
suffering and death and turned it into a force for good! Please teach us to do the same by clinging to
you and your mother, Mary!
Our
Father …
Hail
Mary …
Glory
Be …
Merciful
Father, in the name of Your sweet Jesus, of the Blessed Virgin and of the
Saints, I pray that I be fired with Your spirit of love, and that You will
grant me the grace to make You greatly loved.
(The daily prayer that St. Thérèse
taught us to say, adapted for our little lives.)
St.
Thérèse, pray for us!
In
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today’s Little Flower activity:
Instead of getting angry or frustrated over some suffering, pray to
Jesus and ask His help to turn this sacrifice into an act of love. (Color in a flower for Jesus when your mom or
dad has seen that it is completed!)
 |
| This is St. Thérèse in her wheel chair, in the final weeks of her life. This wheel chair was first her father's. |
No comments:
Post a Comment