Soon-to-be-saint John Henry Newman makes this invitation: “Let us be willing to endure toil and trouble … We live here [on earth] to struggle and to endure. The time of eternal rest will come hereafter.”
And Padre Pio describes it this way:
Let us always be mindful that the earth is a battleground, but in paradise we will receive a crown; the earth is the place of trial, but we will receive a prize above. We are in exile here on earth because heaven is our true home. (June 24, 1915)
Pope Francis took up the theme of “enduring” during a Mass this week in the Casa Santa Marta.
He said:
Peace, the peace of Jesus, teaches us to go forward in life. It teaches us to endure. To endure: a word we don’t understand well — a very Christian word — it means to carry a burden. To endure, to carry the burden of life, the difficulties, the labor, everything, without losing peace; but rather bearing the burden and having the courage to go forward. This can only be understood when there is the Holy Spirit within, who gives us the peace of Jesus.
The pope assured that the kind of peace that Jesus gives through the Holy Spirit accompanies “this life of persecution, of tribulation.”
It is a peace that is “deep down, deep down, very profound …”
A peace that no one can touch, a peace that is a gift, like the sea that deep down is tranquil, while on the surface there are waves. Living in peace with Jesus is having this experience within, which remains during all trials, all difficulties, all “tribulations.”
But this peace, Pope Francis said, does more than get us through life, enduring and bearing with difficulties.
In fact, he said, “The person who lives this peace never loses their sense of humor.”
They know how to smile at themselves, at others, even when things are dark they know how to smile at everything … this sense of humor which is very close to the grace of God. … that little sense of humor that helps us breathe easier.
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Praying this litany will give you peace about the past and future
And today we celebrate...