A Steadfast Heart

“Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, Who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways, will receive anything from the Lord.” (James 1:2-8)

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“Impatience [comes from] a Latin word [meaning] the inability to suffer or undergo something. Some people are not prone to anger—that is, they are not quick to attack others—but they are impatient, unable to bear being attacked. Following Christ, the founder of our Church, means bearing the cross and enduring in patience these onslaughts. The virtue of hope is key here, since we have to confront obstacles, challenges, disappointments, difficulties, and setbacks of all kinds. Life is hard a great deal of the time. If we treat the trials of life as an insufferable imposition, then we are not taking up what is necessary for our deepest calling: to take up our cross and follow Christ and Him crucified. This is not a project for a season, but will be our work our whole life long. The Savior says, ‘In the world you will have trouble, but have courage, I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33b)” –Father Hugh Barbour

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Jesus, in private revelation given to Saint Bridget of Sweden:

He who assumes the honor but not the burden is glorified in time and perishes in eternity. Because Judas did not follow Me with a perfect heart, the words “you have followed Me” did not apply to him, inasmuch as he did not persevere to the point of reward. However, the words did apply to those persons who were to persevere both then and in the time to come, for the Lord, for Whom all things are present, sometimes says things in present time that apply to the future, and sometimes speaks about things that are going to be accomplished as if they have already been accomplished. Sometimes, too, He mixes past and future and uses the past for the future, so that no one may presume to analyze the immutable purpose of the Trinity….

Scripture says—no rather, I Myself have said it—that the righteous person, no matter what kind of death he dies, is in the hands of God, but worldly people consider a person righteous only if his departure is peaceful and without pain or shame. God, however, recognizes as righteous the one who has been proved by longstanding temperance or who suffered for the sake of righteousness. The friends of God suffer in the world in order to receive a lesser punishment in the future or to win a greater crown in heaven.

Peter and Paul died for the sake of righteousness, although Peter died a more painful death than Paul, for he loved the flesh more than Paul; he also had to be more conformed to Me through his painful death since he held the primacy of My Church. Paul, however, inasmuch as he had a greater love of continence and because he had worked harder, died by the sword like a noble knight, for I arrange all things according to merit and measure. So, in God’s judgment, it is not how people end their lives or their horrible death that leads to their reward or condemnation, but their intention and will.

“Dear children! I am calling you to be prayer for all those who do not pray. Little children, witness with your lives the joy that you are mine, and God will heed your prayers and give you peace in this peaceless world where pride and selfishness reign. Little children, you be generous and be the love of my love, so that pagans can feel that you are mine and convert to my Immaculate Heart. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

-Our Lady of Medjugorje, in private revelation given to Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti, on July 25, 2021

From “Salvifici Doloris,” by Saint John Paul II:

[A]fter the events of her Son’s hidden and public life, events which she must have shared with acute sensitivity, it was on Calvary that Mary’s suffering, beside the suffering of Jesus, reached an intensity which can hardly be imagined from a human point of view but which was mysterious and supernaturally fruitful for the redemption of the world. Her ascent of Calvary and her standing at the foot of the Cross together with the Beloved Disciple were a special sort of sharing in the redeeming death of her Son. And the words which she heard from His lips were a kind of solemn handing-over of this Gospel of suffering so that it could be proclaimed to the whole community of believers.

As a witness to her Son’s Passion by her presence, and as a sharer in it by her compassion, Mary offered a unique contribution to the Gospel of suffering, by embodying in anticipation the expression of Saint Paul [in his letter to the Colossians]. She truly has a special title to be able to claim that she “completes in her flesh”—as already in her heart—”what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” (Colossians 1:24).