Lonely? - Then Pray

“And every day, when your heart especially feels the loneliness of life – pray!” St. Padre Pio

Whenever I need clarity in my life, I often turn to my friends in the Carmel Cloister. The nuns are such a sign for me and I am sure of their prayers for me. The other day, someone crossed into traffic, and they were almost hit by a car. They simply smirked and thought – so what. I recalled back to my conversation with the Sisters, and I wondered how someone could be so unfeeling, so unaware. I could only attribute this to loneliness and isolation. Covid played a part in all this but I am sure that we were heading down a dark, empty road without an off-ramp. I was reminded by the Sisters that the antidote to loneliness is not more people, but solitude. I thought that it was a bit of a paradox but upon further thought – I agreed. More solitude allows for more prayer and this allows for more time for Christ to enter into our hearts. He wants so much for this to happen.

“Loneliness, and the feeling of being unwanted, is the most terrible poverty.” Mother Teresa

I was at mass on the feast of Mary Magdalen. The gospel reading of the day was her visit to the tomb that early Easter morning. How she must have felt without our Lord and the Apostles being so afraid. The grief must have been unbearable. Yet she went to the tomb, looking to take care of the body of our Lord when instead she saw him. What joy must have been in her heart! The immense sense of joy that, for me, would be indescribable. I was reading about some saints who experienced loneliness. St. Thomas More spent months alone and felt abandoned before he was finally arrested by Henry VIII. When Pius X was elected, he changed the practice of Popes eating alone and had guests at his table. St Rita of Cascia is the patron of loneliness. She will accompany us in our feelings of despair. And, I think of Christ agonizing in the garden before his Crucifixion. What emotions he must have been experiencing.

“Until I was alone, I never really lived. Until I was alone, I was not with myself. Until I was alone, I never drew near to my Creator.” Blessed Paolo Giustiniani

Loneliness is a phenomenon that seems to be almost in a pandemic-like state. A priest friend of mine retired and moved into a home. He said residents wait for family to visit and many are alone. It is a sad state of affairs. Only Christ can heal this emptiness. We need to draw near to our Lord, and He can give us that sense of comfort. From that, others will see who He is. This begins with prayer.

“People are made for happiness. Rightly, then you thirst for happiness. Christ has the answer to this desire of yours. But he asks you to trust him.” St. John Paul II