Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, and welcome back to another great day.
When I was Protestant, growing in holiness was never really something that was talked about. Just being a believer made you righteous in the eyes of God, so that was really all there was to it.
I didn’t grow up learning about how suffering can be redemptive or how we can sacrifice to show love. Jesus’ sacrifice was all that was focused on, which is good and important, but what happens when major suffering comes our way, or we are asked to sacrifice in big way, or God permits you to be tempted in difficult ways, like St. Catherine of Siena, who we heard about last reading?
For me, when suffering came my way, I bailed, because I thought God would protect believers from any suffering or difficultly. When, in fact, it’s usually the opposite. If you are going to be made into a saint, well, you don’t get there by taking the easy path. Saints are forged in trials, temptations, and suffering.
St. Francis is going to give us some encouragement if we are facing temptations, so let’s open our books to Chapter Five of the Fourth Part.
