A leper came to him [and kneeling down] begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Mark 1:40

I find that the walls of hospital rooms and the sheets on death beds hear more sincere prayers than church pews do. I tend to hear more sincere promises during the last few minutes of a person’s life than I do whenever they ring wedding bells.

I find that something happens in a person’s heart when they undergo suffering. Hearts are made raw, people are more vulnerable, unstable, and more importantly, people tend to feel more. Pope Francis implores us to expose ourselves more to emotion, to feel for one another, to give ourselves out to empathy, and not to give ourselves away to the usual predisposition to logic and rational thinking.

Do not think of crying and weeping as weakness, it is actually courage. It is actually being brave to let other people know, that yes, I can be hurt. But that means I can still carry on, even when I have this hurt. More importantly, it shows that I have abounding trust and faith in my God, that I can offer my entire burden to Him who is my greatest source of strength.

In the gospel, the leper came to Jesus, and kneeling down, begged him, and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” When we offer ourselves and our burdens to God, we are humbled down, yet raised up. Confusing noh? We are humbled because we acknowledge that we are limited. Yet, at par, we are being raised up by Him, for when we offer our whole being to God, burdens, suffering, happiness, all our thoughts, actions, and words, we are making Him our source of all good things, which He has an infinite supply of. By offering ourselves up to Him, He is making us limitless.

In this world, we undergo a lot of suffering. Yet, with our great God, we are being offered healing. Healing is not a one-time thing. It is a process. It may be a cycle of suffering and healing and suffering and healing again. I, myself, have been frustrated countless times when I find myself in the midst of pain. I think to myself “wasn’t I already okay a few days ago?” but then I find myself being chastised by the thought that,

“Hey, God’s not done with you yet. He’s making you undergo this so you can become stronger. You can weather more storms this way. You may even get so strong, to the point that you may have to carry other people in need of God’s love. But you won’t mind, because your wings have been forged and tested. And when your wings may fail, do not worry, because God is omnipresent. He will not leave you. He will never forsake you.”

This way, let me remind you, do not fear suffering and pain. Welcome it. Take it and offer it up. Make God your infinite source of strength. Do not avoid exhaustion. Embrace it, and take a rest. Wake up, and walk again in God’s love.

-Oyen del Fierro