What Do You Do?

October 21, 2011

So, today I thought I’d share my thoughts with you about finding out your loved one has cancer, or some other life-threatening illness. What do you do? Well, that’s what happened to me today. So perhaps it has happened to you, too, and perhaps my thoughts would help you? I hope so. What is my source of hope and strength? First, God’s Word, so let me share with you one of my favorite verses from the Bible: "No temptation [or testing] has taken you but such as is common to humankind. But God is faithful and will not allow you to suffer beyond that which you are able to bear, but will, with the temptation [or test] make a way for you to escape so that you may be able to bear it." I love that verse which Saint Paul gave to us. Of course he God’s Holy Spirit was speaking the truth through Saint Paul, so we can completely trust that what God has said in that verse, God will do for us. Therefore, whatever you are facing today—or tomorrow or whenever—God will give you the grace and strength and love to bear it. Never fear. Never. And here is a second favorite Scripture verse of mine for you: "All things work together for the good for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purposes." But perhaps I’ve already shared that one with you? Nevertheless, it is God’s promise to you that ALL things will work together for good in your life. So simply trust Him.
Now, for Saint Padre Pio’s encouragement for you, please read the following which I took from his Letters, Volume Two: “Do not give way to sadness, for the Lord is with you always. Aren’t you in the Hands of Divine Providence, a fonder Mother than we can ask for or imagine? Take heart, then,” says Saint Padre Pio to you, my dear friend, “for Jesus will not leave you for a single instant.” Amen!
I will return next week, God willing, with some more encouraging words for you from God’s Word and from Saint Padre Pio’s letters. In the meantime, as Padre Pio always said, “Pray, hope, and don’t worry.” Amen.

My Experience This Week

October 12, 2011

Why not, each week, share with you my experiences as a sinner, relate those experiences to the Word of God, and also relate them to Saint Padre Pio, the famous stigmatic priest? (By the way, we are all sinners; those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior are sinners who are saved by the Blood of Christ; those who have not accepted Christ as their personal Savior are just plain sinners. I am a sinner saved by the Blood of Christ.)

This week’s experience to share with you would be my inner moanings about having to clean up a loved one’s vomit and blood and having to wait on that person “hand and foot” after that person’s return from the hospital and major surgery. Please picture this: here is this very sick man, pathetic really, and here I am, inwardly complaining—silently, of course—that I have to clean up oceans of vomit, toss out a perfectly good Penn State rug because of the vomit stains, and clean up blood, empty regularly the person’s bottle that hangs from his body that drains the blood and fluids from the internal wound, etc., etc., etc. Then, to my surprise—but it shouldn’t have been a surprise at all because it’s happened to me over and over again that when I need a shove in the right direction, there is the Lord Jesus, smiling and nudging me ever-so-gently in the right direction, sometimes using the soft wings of my Holy Guardian Angel—anyhow, to my surprise, one day this week when I opened my Bible for my daily reading, here was the Scripture and Jesus’ own words: “For which is the greater, one who sits at table, or one who serves? Is it not the one who sits at table? But I am among you as one who serves.” Jesus serves; Jesus is the Servant. Then what am I supposed to be? A complaining brat or a smiling, cheerful, giving servant? You guessed it; I chose to be a smiling servant, but I first asked Jesus for His grace to achieve that goal because I knew I’d fail if I continued to try to do it on my own. (“God loves a cheerful giver.”) And I continue to ask for that grace each day, each hour, each moment.

Oh yes, without Christ’s grace and love, I am doomed to fail because of all my weaknesses. But God’s Word says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” That means all good things He calls me to do. Therefore, for my encouragement—and yours, in case you are also, like me, being asked to do servant tasks, perhaps day after day after day—here are Saint Padre Pio’s own words: “The grace that is meted out to you from above is sufficient for you, because God’s power achieves its purpose by means of our weakness.” (Saint Padre Pio’s Letters, Volume One, page 1263)

May God richly bless you and yours, my dear friend!

Love,
Eileen
Eileen Dunn Bertanzetti


(If you wish, you can see more about my St. Padre Pio books on Facebook, at my blog, and at my publishers’ Websites: Our Sunday Visitor, Pauline Books & Media, The Word Among Us Press, Chelsea House Publishers)

In Spite of Your Troubles, Rejoice

Since God's Word is infinitely more powerful than anyone else's, I'll just share that with you today and then follow it up with some wisdom from my favorite Saint, Saint Padre Pio.

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let all people know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:4-7)

"Pray, hope, and don't worry," says Saint Padre Pio, echoing God's Holy Word for you today.

Your Holy Guardian Angel Wants to Help You

Last week I wrote to you on Saint Padre Pio’s Feast Day, so I thought that this week I would continue to quote his letters, since they would be of greatest help to you, my dear friend whom I love. Because Padre Pio taught me so much about my Holy Guardian Angel and how my Angel wants me to speak to him and ask him to help me, I thought you might benefit from St. Padre Pio’s own words about his own Guardian Angel. His experiences can inspire you to turn to your own Guardian Angel—everyone has one, you know—and rely on your Angel to help you in all of life’s circumstances. God has given each of us a Holy Guardian Angel.
“On Saturday,” wrote St. Padre Pio in his Letters, Volume 1, “I turned to my Angel and after he had kept me waiting a while, there he was, hovering close to me, singing hymns to the Divine Majesty in his angelic voice. There followed one of the usual scenes; I rebuked him bitterly for having kept me waiting so long when I had not failed to call him to my assistance. To punish him, I did not want to look him in the face, I wanted to get away, to escape from him. But he, poor creature, caught up with me almost in tears and held me until I raised my eyes to his face and found him all upset. Then he said, ‘I am always close to you, my beloved young man. I am always hovering around you with the affection aroused by your gratitude to the Beloved of your heart. This affection of mine will never end, not even when you die. I know that your generous heart beats all the time for the One we both love; you would cross every mountain and every desert in search of Him, to see Him again, to embrace Him again in these extreme moments.…’”
You, my friend whom I love, have a Holy Guardian Angel, just like Saint Padre Pio has. Turn to that Angel; ask him to make known to you his presence in some special way. I know he will help you and be your best friend. Jesus has sent him to you.
And please know that I love you.

Happy Saint Padre Pio Feast Day!

Happy Feast Day to you, my friend!

Yes, today is Saint Padre Pio’s Feast Day. Hooray for you, St. Pio! Since it is his day, I am going to let him speak for himself, rather than my sharing with you any anecdotes from his life or from the lives of those who knew and loved him.
So now, from Saint Padre Pio’s Letters, Volume Two, I offer you these words of hope and encouragement:

“Do not lose faith in God’s Providence,” said Padre Pio. “Put your trust in God; abandon yourself to Him; and let Him take care of you. Then rest assured that you will not be confounded. I understand and am deeply aware that the trial is hard and the battle fierce. But I also understand that the fruit you will gather, in due course, will be very abundant. The crown that is being woven for you up above is far greater than can be humanly conceived. You will perhaps laugh at me for saying such things…but I know quite well what I am saying. Judge me as you think fit, but what I want from you is that, as the trial increases, your abandonment and trust in God may also increase. Immerse yourself ever more deeply in humility and in blessing the Lord, who in His goodness deigns to visit you in this way, so as to prepare you to share in building up the Heavenly Kingdom. I therefore exhort you, again, to be trustful. A soul who trusts in her Lord and places all her hope in Him has nothing to fear. The enemy of our salvation is always around us to snatch from our hearts the anchor that is to lead us to salvation, by which I mean trust in God our Father. Let us keep a very firm hold on this anchor and not relinquish it for a single moment.” (Saint Padre Pio's Letters, Volume )

Do you need faith, my dear friend? The Word of God says that “faith is a gift,” so now all you have to do is ask for that faith, and God will grant it to you. And while you are at it, why not ask Saint Padre Pio to always help you to hold onto that “anchor,” that “trust in God our Father,” about which he just spoke to you? Then “pray, hope, and don’t worry,” as Saint Padre Pio always advised.

Talk to you again next week, my dear friend whom I love.

Do You Wish You Had More Time to Spend with God?

Here is a little tidbit from Dorothy Gaudiose’s book, Prophet of the People. She worked for St. Padre Pio at his monastery in Italy for three years, so she knew him well. This is a true story she related in her book:
At Our Lady of Grace in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, high on the mountain in his monastery home, St. Padre Pio would take a break from his hard work helping the thousands of poor souls who came to him, to go outside for some fresh air and sunshine. One day while enjoying the mountain air and the songs of the birds, he noticed that visitors from all over the world began to gather around him, the famous stigmatized priest who bore—for fifty years—the five bleeding wounds of Christ Crucified in his hands, feet, and side.
Padre Pio hated people making a fuss over him, but God did use him to save souls, so this day Padre Pio sighed and smiled gently as a young married woman from the village at the base of the mountain approached him. “Padre,” she said to him, her face blushing from her shyness and humility, “I live next door to the church and every morning after my husband goes to work and the baby is sleeping, I go into the church and hear Mass and receive Holy Communion.” The young woman, fearing St. Padre Pio would yell at her for leaving her little one, quickly added, “Worrying that my baby might wake up while I’m gone, I leave the church right after receiving the Host. Am I making God angry?”
Smiling at the young mother, Padre Pio said, “No, you’re not displeasing God at all.” St. Pio explained later to a crowd of people: “That young mother pleases God more with her little time in church than you or I do when we spend all day in church.” He continued, “She is taking time out of her duties in order to serve Him.”
So, my dear friend, do you want to spend more time with God in church but can’t afford the time from your daily duties. Do not worry one second. Take to heart these words from St. Padre Pio’s Letters, Volume 3, which I’ve chosen for you today: “During the course of the day, when you are unable to do anything else, call on Jesus even in the midst of all your occupations, with resigned groanings of the soul. He will come to stay untied to your soul always, through his grace and holy love.”
May Jesus always smile on you, my dear friend!

Never Fear: God Truly Is Within You

Probably, my wonderful friend, whom I dearly love, it would be better if I made my weekly messages to you much shorter. You are most likely very busy. And since you are so busy, perhaps a few words from three of the Saints—including, of course, Saint Padre Pio, the famous stigmatist-priest—about taking time to rest and refresh yourself would be helpful to you?

First, these words of Saint Anselmo will help you to take a deep breath and let go of your troubles, at least for a few moments: “Come on…escape for a short time from your chores, leave your tumultuous thoughts. Put your busy activities and grave worries to one side for a moment.”

Nice words, right? But now what do you do during that brief time, after you’ve set aside your chores and worries? Saint Anselmo answers that question for you: “Wait a while for God and rest in Him. Go deep inside your soul and exclude everything except God and that which helps you search for Him, then close the door and look for God.”

Why go inside yourself to find God? Saint John of the Cross answers your question with this: “It is to be noted that Jesus, the Word of God, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, essentially and presently are hidden in the inner part of the soul. Therefore the soul which wishes to find them must retreat into itself as if all the rest didn’t exist.”

But you know how weak and sinful you can be, so you wonder how God could ever be within your soul. I totally understand; I too feel that way about myself, but in God’s great Mercy and Love for us, He chooses to dwell within us, so now take a third Saint’s word for it, Saint Padre Pio’s word: “The knowledge of your interior unworthiness and sinfulness is an extremely pure divine light by which your very being and your ability to commit any sin, without the help of grace, is placed before your consideration. That light is due to the great mercy of God and was granted to the greatest saints because it positions their souls in a place sheltered from all feelings of vanity or pride, thus strengthening humility, which is the foundation of true virtue and Christian perfection. Saint Teresa also had this knowledge….”

Please let Saint Padre Pio leave you with these consoling thoughts, my dear friend whom I love: “In conclusion, rest assured, and be happy, because God is pleased with you and finds His peaceful dwelling place within you. Temptations, discomfort, restlessness, etc., are the merchandise offered by the enemy, but you reject them, so they do no harm. Remember this: if the devil makes a din, he is still outside and not inside at all.” (St. Padre Pio’s Letters, Volume Three, pages548–550)

Never fear, my precious friend; Jesus is with you!