Offer up your sufferings

     St Bridget describes our Lord Jesus's suffering so graphically and explicitly that there will "never" be more harsh or cruel sufferings than what our Lord Jesus went through. From the moment of His betrayal, with the sorrow in Gethsemane, to the kiss from His Disciple, to the horror of His arrest, bound and dragged into a den of evil where He was mocked, tortured, beaten and humiliated and ultimately killed for "our" offenses and sins. The ultimate sacrifice for human beings that anyone could ever have to go through. Him being the first to show us the way. That in offering up "our" sufferings for something or someone could merit such a great reward. It pains my mind and soul to think I was part of that cruel suffering. Complaining of my petty hurts of body if comparing them to the suffering that Jesus went through, it's shameful to my heart. Oh God, forgive me! Have mercy on such a weak creature as me.

     Looking at the Crucifix, our symbol of Salvation and Love of a God who suffered so for Love of Us, may it remind all of us always of the great sacrifice that He gave for us. Our sufferings are not in vain and of great value for those that are in need, and there are so many in need. True surrender of "our" sufferings, united with that of the "ultimate sufferer", our Jesus, will seal our dedication to the one and true God. Our Father. 

    Next time you stub your toe, think of Jesus falling with the heavy cross. Next time you cut your finger, remember the amount of blood Jesus shed for us. Next time you accidentally bump your head on the overhang, remember Jesus's precious head crowned with thorns. Everything we endure can be offered up to the King, "the ultimate sufferer". In reparation of our sins and the sins of the whole world. It will soothe the piercing, gaping wounds that our Jesus willingly and lovingly endured, just so that we can be with Him in Heaven. It will comfort and console the pierced Heart of Mary and relieve us in "our" moments of sorrow. 

     St Anthony's said, "the dove makes her nest with little bits of straw collected here and there. What are these scattered fragments which the world treads underfoot? They are the virtues of our Savior.... Humility, gentleness, poverty, patience and mortification. The world considers them useless, but it is with these that "we shall build our nest deep in the Heart of Jesus".