Priest shares saints’ secret to making suffering ‘sweet’
Are we passionate like the saints? Parishioners of Christ The King Parish, Filinvest 2, Batasan Hills, Quezon City.celebrate the Eve of All Saints’ Day with a HolyWeen Party where both children and adults come dressed as their favorite saints, Oct. 31, 2018. LLOYD MULA
By Minnie Abigail A. Agdeppa
Nov. 3, 2018
Quezon City
How should one face suffering and hardships that sometimes seem overwhelming?
“It is passion that makes ‘the yoke easy, the burden light,'” shared Manila Cathedral rector Fr. Reginald Malicdem in a homily on Oct. 1 at the Carmel of St. Therese, Gilmore, in this city. “Passion makes our burden sweet. Passion makes our crosses light.”
“A person with passion will always smile even in the midst of suffering,” he told the faithful gathered on the feast of St. Therese of Lisieux.
No passion = mediocrity
“Without passion, loving and serving will become a sad burden. Without passion we will become miserable,” he explained, “But if we are passionate in the things that we do, even if it is difficult, even it is impossible, we do it with joy in our hearts.”
He elaborated that passion comes from love and since “love is always looking for the best way to show love,” a person who has no passion “will fall into mediocrity” because he or she is “simply content in going through–‘pwede na yan (that will do),'” which is actually contrary to the faith because “God is a passionate God.”
“God was never mediocre. In His desire to save us, He sent His beloved Son. He sent His only Son. Our society suffers because of the mediocrity of people. That is why the challenge is to be passionate: to do our best in everything we do,” he underscored.
Citing how the Little Flower lived, Malicdem said St. Therese was a passionate person for she was “always searching how else she could serve God and the Church.” According to the priest, when she knew what hell is – that in hell there is no love – she said “she wanted to go there so she could bring love.” He reminded devotees that “St. Therese would always smile” despite her many sufferings “because her passion is God.”
The passionate saints
He expressed hope that the faithful would do the same, pointing out that, as devotees, they should follow the example and embody the virtues of the saint they are devoted to.
“The saints are passionate people. They will not allow anything, they will not allow anyone to hinder them [from] loving God,” he emphasized.
