Believe All Things are Possible with God

My friend, Father Alessio Parente, OFM, Capuchin, who was a companion and bodyguard of Saint Padre Pio during the Padre's final years, said in his book (Padre Pio, Our Good Samaritan):

"When praying for a grace, we must believe that nothing is impossible to the Lord. [With God, all things are possible, says Saint Matthew in Matthew 19:26.] This, in itself, is a wonderful act of faith; freely admitting that the good Lord is All-Powerful and that everything and everybody is subject to Him and to Him alone. So let us have faith that the Lord is ready to grant many graces, and we will see the results like Manna from Heaven. [See Revelations 2:17.]

"What a great grace it is to know and to love Padre Pio," continues Fr. Alessio, " to have his paternal protection and help at all times during our lives, and to learn from his teachings. He is like the light which brings us safely through the tunnel to the end of our earthly existence. For those of us who are particularly familiar with the life of our Good Samartan [St. Padre Pio], it is superfluous to say that his teachings and actions are to be meditated upon with great care and attention. It is a particular grace to become a spiritual child of his and to be assured of his paternal protection. However, this also carries with it a duty toward others; a duty to spread the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the reason for our hope [Christ] throughout the world. This is our responsibility.

"What exactly then," continues Fr. Alessio, "are the teachings of Padre Pio? They are precisely those of Jesus: That is, love for God and our neighbor; complete faith and trust in the Lord at all times; belief in His fatherly goodness and His desire for our well-being. . . . We must love our neighbor as ourself. How sad it is, nowadays, to see people going through life trying to out-do everybody else as far as they possibly can. Do they not realize that this is a thankless task and one that will only lead to unhappiness?

"The message of Jesus, on the contrary," continues Father Alessio, " is one that brings happiness and joy; it brings love for one's neighbor and the desire to help others. Whereas a life full of self-seeking brings only misery and despair.

"To further emphasize this point, we must abandon ourselves totally in the arms of the Lord, allowing Him to take full possession of ourselves and to do with us exactly as He wills. By doing this we can afford to live a life that is more tranquil than the one offered by the continual search for riches. We will be free of useless worry, secure in the thought that everything that might take place in our lives is in the hands of God. This total abandonment can only be obtained by continual prayer; it is something that we learn to do with time and practice, but something that brings with it such a sense of peacefulness, that our hearts are filled with happeness and joy." (pages 118-119 in Padre Pio, Our Good Samaritan, by Fr. Alessio Parente, OFM, Capuchin)

Today, you, my dear friend, can ask Saint Padre Pio to make you one of his spiritual children and to help you to abandon yourself in the arms of Jesus. He will do it because he loves you--and I do too.