Suffering Is the Greatest Treasure On Earth

 

Suffering Is the Greatest Treasure On Earth

 

 

Christ could have chosen many ways for us to get to heaven; in His infinite wisdom, he chose the CROSS. Today just about everyone wants a Christianity without the cross.

How we react and act before the cross in our lives will determine OUR ETERNAL DESTINY.

St. Teresa of Avila said that once you DECIDE TO SUFFER, there is no more suffering. It is the resistance to suffering that cause us to be uncomfortable.

St. Therese of the Child Jesus on her death bed with great sufferings, and even the dark night of the spirit, said: “I have reached the point of not being able to suffer anymore because all suffering is sweet to me.”

Jesus told Padre Pio that he (Jesus) suffers much for the bad priests and that he (Jesus) will suffer until end of time!!!

In the Diary of Saint Faustina, no. 342, one reads: “SUFFERING IS THE GREATEST TREASURE ON EARTH; it purifies the soul. In suffering, we learn who our true friend is. TRUE LOVE IS MEASURED BY THE THERMOMETER OF SUFFERING. Jesus, I thank You for the little daily crosses, for opposition to my endeavors, for the hardships of communal life, for the misinterpretation of my intentions, for humiliations at the hands of others, for the harsh way in which we are treated, for false suspicions, for poor health and loss of strength, for self-denial, for dying to myself, for lack of recognition in everything, for the upsetting of all my plans. Thank You, Jesus, for interior sufferings, for dryness of spirit, for terrors, fears and incertitudes, for the darkness and the deep interior night, for temptations and various ordeals, for torments too difficult to describe, especially for those which no one will understand, for the hour of death with its fierce struggle and all its bitterness. I thank You, Jesus, You who first drank the cup of bitterness before You gave it to me, in a much milder form. I put my lips to this cup of Your holy will. Let all be done according to Your good pleasure; let that which Your wisdom ordained before the ages be done to me. I want to drink the cup to its last drop, and not seek to know the reason why. In bitterness is my joy, in hopelessness is my trust. In You, O Lord, all is good, all is a gift of Your paternal Heart. I do not prefer consolations over bitterness or bitterness over consolations, but thank You, O Jesus, for everything! It is my delight to fix my gaze upon You, O incomprehensible God! My spirit abides in these mysterious dwelling places, and there I am at home. I know very well the dwelling place of my Spouse. I feel there is not a single drop of blood in me that does not burn with love for You. O Uncreated Beauty, whoever comes to know You once cannot love anything else. I can feel the bottomless abyss of my soul, and nothing will fill it but God himself. I feel that I am drowned in Him like a single grain of sand in a bottomless ocean.

“Would that mortal men might know how wonderful is divine grace, how beautiful , how precious; what riches are hidden therein, what treasures, what joys, what delights. If they but knew, surely they would direct their energy with all care and diligence to PROCURING SUFFERINGS AND AFFLICTIONS FOR THEMSELVES. Instead of good fortune all men everywhere would seek out troubles, illness and suffering that they might obtain the inestimable treasure of grace. This is the final profit to be gained from patient endurance. No one would complain about the cross or about hardships coming seemingly by chance upon him, if he realized in what balance they are weighed before being distributed to men” (St. Rose of Lima; August 23; Office of Readings).

Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows

The Sufferings of the Church

a "I am your sorrowful Mother.

b The sword, which pierced my Heart beneath the Cross, continues to wound me through the GREAT SUFFERING which the Church, the Mystical Body of my Son Jesus, is living through at the present time.

c All the sufferings of the Church are in my Immaculate and Sorrowful Heart. It is in this way that I still carry out today my maternal duty, begetting in pain this Daughter of mine, to a new life. For this reason the function of the Mother becomes ever more important at the present time of its painful purification.

d All the sufferings of the Pope, the bishops, the priests, of consecrated souls, and of the faithful are enclosed in my motherly Heart.

e I too share with you in living out these hours of great pain. And the passion of my Son continues in his Mystical Body.

f Today, with Him, for the Church I relive the very hours of Gethsemane, of Calvary, of the crucifixion and of his death.

g Have trust and patience; have courage and hope! Soon from our pain will rise a new era of light. The Church will again flourish, under the powerful influx of the love of God." (September 15, 1980; “To the Priests, Our Lady's Beloved Sons”; http://our-lady-priests.blogspot.it/).

“For it was to strengthen your heart that he came to suffer, he came to die, to be spattered with spittle, to be crowned with thorns, to listen to insults, finally to be fixed to the wood of the cross. HE SUFFERED ALL THESE THINGS FOR YOU; YOU HAVE SUFFERED NOTHING. They were not for his benefit but for yours. What kind of men are they who, fearing to hurt those they speak to, not only do not prepare them for imminent temptations, but even promise the happiness of this world, which God did not promise to the world itself?” (Sermon of St. Augustine on the Shepherds; Office of Readings, Week 24, OT, Friday).

“ONE DAY, I SAW TWO ROADS. One was broad, covered with sand and flowers, full of joy, music and all sorts of pleasures. People walked along it, dancing and enjoying themselves. They reached the end without realizing it. And at the end of the road there was a horrible precipice; that is, the abyss of hell. The souls fell blindly into it; as they walked, so they fell. And their number was so great that it was impossible to count them. And I saw the other road, or rather, a path, for it was narrow and strewn with thorns and rocks; and the people who walked along it had tears in their eyes, and all kinds of suffering befell them. Some fell down upon the rocks, but stood up immediately and went on. At the end of the road there was a magnificent garden filled with all sorts of happiness, and all these souls entered there. At the very first instant they forgot all their sufferings.” (Diary of St. Faustina, no. 153)

“Today, I was led by an Angel to the chasms of hell. It is a place of great torture; how awesomely large and extensive it is! (…) But I noticed one thing: that most of THE SOULS THERE ARE THOSE WHO DISBELIEVED THAT THERE IS A HELL” (Diary of St. Faustina, no. 741).

“Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Mt 7:13-14)!

DISCOURAGEMENT HAS ITS ROOTS IN PRIDE AND IN EXCESSIVE SELF CONFIDENCE. We need to, with deeper humility when we fail, begin again.

Saint CHRYSOSTOM tells us. IF A SOLDIER IS WOUNDED or has to give a little ground during the battle, we do not call that a crime. ONLY THOSE WHO DO NOT FIGHT ARE NEVER WOUNDED. But those who charge the enemy with the greatest spirit are the ones who receive the most blows. So do not be surprised if you are engaged in doing good that you are going to encounter trials and obstacles. You are going to suffer some blows and setbacks and disappointments even in yourself. But discouragement is rooted in pride and excessive self-confidence. WE NEED A DEEPER HUMILITY AND TO RENEW OUR TRUST IN GOD.

“If the angels were capable of envy, they would envy us for two things: one is the receiving of Holy Communion, and the other is suffering” (Diary of St. Faustina, no. 1804)!

Pope John Paul II said to a group of pilgrims in Fulda, West Germany, in November 1980, speaking about the secrets of Fatima, that: “We have to be prepared to suffer, before long, great trials which will require of us the disposition to sacrifice even our life for Christ. Through your prayers and mine, it is still possible to diminish this trial (predicted at Fatima), but it is no longer possible to avert it, because only in this manner can the Church be effectively renewed. How many times has the renewal of the Church been brought about in blood! It will not be different this time.”

“Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world” (1Pet 5:8-9).

“BUT REJOICE IN SO FAR AS YOU SHARE CHRIST'S SUFFERINGS, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or a wrongdoer, or a mischief-maker; yet if one suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but under that name let him glorify God” (1Pet 4:13-16).

C.S. Lewis wrote: God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but SHOUTS IN OUR PAINS: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

“O my Jesus, I understand well that, just as illness is measured with a thermometer, and a high fever tells us of the seriousness of the illness, so also, in the spiritual life, SUFFERING IS THE THERMOMETER which measures the love of God in a soul.” (Diary of St. Faustina, no. 774)!

“For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, BUT WE PREACH CHRIST CRUCIFIED, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1Cor 1:22-25).

“If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Lk 9:23; Mt 16:24).

“Prayer joined to sacrifice constitutes the most powerful force in human history.” – Pope John Paul II.

“YOU HAVE NOW ARRIVED AT THE MOMENT OF YOUR IMMOLATION; you are being called to suffer more and more. Give me all your suffering. Today it is the misunderstandings, the attacks, the calumnies of your brothers. Tomorrow it will be persecutions, imprisonment, condemnations on the part of atheists and enemies of God who will see in you the obstacles that must be eliminated. Walk with me, and follow me along the path of my Son Jesus, along the way of Calvary, along the way of the Cross. Never as in these moments will you have to live so profoundly that which is the vocation of every Christian: 'He who wishes to come after Me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me!' (Mt 16:24). Follow me, beloved sons: today it is necessary to follow your Mother if you want to travel without fear the path of my Son Jesus." (May 28, 1976; “To the Priests, Our Lady's Beloved Sons”; http://our-lady-priests.blogspot.it/).

“You are being called to become strong witnesses of love, in the hour of violence and hatred, of unbridled egoism and of war. Now the hurricane is at your doors, and the Church and humanity will be called to live the tremendous hour of the great trial. For this, you are being IMMOLATED TODAY ON THE ALTAR OF MY IMMACULATE HEART. The hour of your immolation has come. I am ever close to you, and I am leading you by the hand at each moment, as a mother leads her little children. I will be at your side, in an extraordinary way, during the bloody moments of your PRIESTLY PASSION AND OF YOUR MARTYRDOM. You will see me then and rejoice, because you will contemplate your heavenly Mother who offers you, as little lambs, on the altar of her Immaculate Heart, to the perfect glory of the Most Holy and Divine Trinity.” (February 2, 1995; “To the Priests, Our Lady's Beloved Sons”).

“Now, water without the proclamation of the cross of the Lord is of no avail for future salvation; but after it has been consecrated by the mystery of the saving cross, it is make ready to serve as a spiritual washing and as a cup of salvation.” (St. Ambrose, Office of Readings, 15 OT, Tuesday).

Our Lady communicated to Don Stefano Gobbi on November 22, 1992 (“To The Priests Our Lady’s Beloved Sons” (http://our-lady-priests.blogspot.it/):

“My beloved ones and children consecrated to my Immaculate Heart, listen to the words of your heavenly Mother, who is gently preparing you and leading you to live through these events, because the times which were foretold to you by the prophet Zechariah have now come. `An oracle of the Lord: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be completely scattered; and then I will turn my hand against the little ones. `An oracle of the Lord: In all the land, two thirds of them will be cut off and perish; and one third shall be left. `I will pass this third through fire; I will refine it as silver is refined, test it as gold is tested. `It will call upon my Name, and I will hear it; I will say:"This is my people.” And it will say: “The Lord is my God.” ‘ (cf. Zech 13:7-9)”

“I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be completely scattered; and then I will turn my hand against the little ones”. I believe that this coincides well with the prophecies of the FALSE POPE, who will corrupt “the little one”, especially those who have been abandoned by their parents and their pastors who have the vocation from God to protect the souls entrusted to them.

“Two thirds of them will be cut off and perish…” This means two thirds will lose their immortal souls in this period, and the third that saves their souls will pass “through fire; I will refine it as silver is refined, test it as gold is tested”! Right now there are very few people who have the courage to take the risk to open their eyes to the signs of the times so as not to be hypocrites (Lk 12:56; Mt 16:3; 24:32-33,51), to go against the tide of the great majority, strongly manipulated by the highly controlled mass media, who have taken the easy way of being “politically correct”, and in particular today, in the Catholic Church (“Politically Correct in the Church – EWTN”; http://spir-food.blogspot.it/2017/10/politically-correct-in-church-ewtn.html)! In this period of the crucifixion of the Church, the purification of the Church and of the world, we are called to not flee from the sufferings that Jesus offers and shares with us, but to offer our lives for the Body of Christ, the Church, as did Mary, the “Queen of martyrs”, at the foot of the cross with Jesus totally covered with blood and wounds and humiliations and abandoned by almost everyone. Thus most of the very few who remain faithful to the uncomfortable truth in this period will later offer with their blood the grace for the conversion of many others so as to arrive to the prophesied one third who will save their immortal souls for all eternity. “The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians” – Tertullian.

Padre Gabriele Amorth, the former Vatican's chief exorcist, along with many important exorcists worldwide, tells us that SATAN’S GREATEST SUCCESS is the fact that he has managed to convince people that he does not exist. The Servant of God, Archbishop Fulton Sheen, wrote in 1948 that if there is no heaven there is no hell; if there is no hell, then there is no sin; if there is no sin, then there is no judge, and if there is no judgment then evil is good and good is evil.

Thus, since a great number of priests, bishops and parents NEVER TALK ABOUT THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AND THE ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES OF SIN so as not to offend anyone in this short life on earth, in her maternal solicitude, the Most Holy Virgin, on July 13, 1917, came to Fatima to ask men to “not offend any more God, our Lord, who is already greatly offended”. It is the sorrow of a mother which obliges her to speak; the fate of her children is at stake. For this reason She asks the shepherd children: “Pray, pray very much and make sacrifices for sinners; many souls end up in hell because there is no one to pray and make sacrifices for them.

Then she showed them a Vision of Hell and Taught Us How to Avoid It.

Later at the request of the Bishop of Leiria, Lucia described the vision this way:

As Our Lady spoke these last words, she opened her hands once more, as she had done during the two previous months. The rays of light seemed to penetrate the earth, and we saw as it were a sea of fire. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke now falling back on every side like sparks in huge fires, without weight or equilibrium, amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear. (It must have been this sight which caused me to cry out, as people say they heard me). The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repellent likeness to frightful and unknown animals, black and transparent like burning coals. Terrified and as if to plead for succour, we looked up at Our Lady, who said to us, so kindly and so sadly: You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace.

“… THE SWEET CROSS WILL BE THE REFUGE OF CHRISTIANS … the Cross will be so illuminated that in the full daylight it will be more bright than the sun; in the night It will not go out, It will spread out over an immense distance … A red cloud and a rumble of thunder will go through the whole sky … due to the expiations that are offered to me I will retard the disaster.” (November 21, 1912, message of Jesus to Maria Julia Jahenny, Blain, France).

You might find helpful in this period of great confusion full of traps from our very astute mortal enemy, Satan, the articles that you can find in my index: https://josephdwight.wordpress.com/2015/09/21/joseph-dwight-index/.

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Father Joseph Dwight