The Strength to Bear anything

God's Grace is Sufficient
Greetings from Fr. Bob ...

To paraphrase George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess,", it's summertime, but for many, the living ISN'T easy.

I say this because every day at Graymoor we receive many requests for prayers from all over the world, people who have logged onto our website asking the friars to remember their petitions in our Masses, prayers and novenas.

Some are sad and heartbroken over failed relationships, loss of a job, the death of a loved one, or a serious illness of a child.

Every day, we carefully and faithfully bring these prayer requests to the altar here at Graymoor.

St. Paul tells us in Second Corinthians about some of his problems.

He does not go into much detail, only to say that he could not stand it any longer.

He tells us, "I prayed urgently to the Lord asking him to help me, to take this thing away. And the answer was always the same ... My grace is good enough, for my power is perfected in weakness."

Whatever Paul's problem was, it was not removed by God, but he was given the STRENGTH to bear it.

I am sure most of us know what that is like, praying your heart out, asking, pleading for something and nothing happens.

And slowly we come to realize, like Paul, that Jesus went through the same thing.

He also prayed to his father, "Let this cup pass from me."

We do not always get what we ask for, but God will always give us what we NEED.

All of us at some time in life will carry a Cross; how you carry it is important.

Where is your Cross?

Where do you really hurt right now?

Only you know.

That is where Jesus is at work.

Don't run from it because then you run from Jesus who wants to meet you there.

In the words of a poet, "Where sorrow is, there is holy ground, and how else but through broken hearts may the Lord enter in."

Never try to go it alone.

Turn to the one who carried the Cross, and who told us, "Fear not, I am with you until the end of the world."

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Bob Warren, SA

Stay Strong