| When He Touches Us With Sickness… |
For Sunday’s Living Jesus Chat, we will again read an article from a book by St. Francis de Sales called Of Devotion, and of the Principal Exercises of Piety. It explores the importance of prayer in sickness.___________________________________________To prepare for our chat, please read the article, which is reproduced below, and review the questions at the end.Click for Living Jesus Chatroom  Photo by LOGAN WEAVER | @LGNWVR on UnsplashAs to meditation, the physicians are right; so long as you remain infirm, you must abstain from it; and to make up for this deficiency, you must redouble your ejaculatory prayers, and apply yourself wholly to God, by an acquiescence in His good pleasure, who in nowise separates you from Himself in giving you this hindrance to meditation; but it is for you to unite yourself more solidly to Him by the exercise of holy and tranquil resignation. What matters it to us that we are in God’s service in this way or in that? Indeed, since we seek not for aught but Him, and since we find Him not less in mortification than in prayer, especially when He touches us with sickness, the one ought to be as good to us as the other; besides, short ejaculations and dartings forth of our spirit are true and continual prayers, and the suffering of evils is the most worthy offering which we could make to Him who has saved us by suffering. Make them read you some good book from time to time, for that too is an assistance. Do not distress yourself that you are not able to serve God according to your taste; for, by accommodating your self-will to your discomforts, you serve Him according to His taste, which is better than yours. May He be blessed and glorified forever! When God shall have restored your health to you, it will be proper to resume your meditation, at least for half an hour in the morning, and for a quarter of an hour in the evening, before supper; for, since our Lord has once given you the taste of this celestial honey, it will be a great reproach to you if you lose the taste of it. You must therefore take courage, and not allow conversation to deprive you of so rare an advantage as that of speaking heart to heart with your God. Reflections: Why would meditation not be suitable while someone is sick? Would the type of sickness make a difference?What is “holy and tranquil resignation”? And why can someone do that but not meditate?How is suffering/sickness valuable to offer to God?If suffering is advantageous, should we then just pray for suffering and sickness to come upon s?Why is the rhythm of meditation and silence so important for our lives, especially in this age of perpetual distractions from smartphones, internet, social media, etc.?When we are sick, how do we get our minds off of our bad feelings, and onto thoughts of God? Sign up for our Living Jesus Chat Room:Come to our Living Jesus Chat Room, 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM Eastern Time U.S. |