First Reading in Mass today:
"....in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body." Colossians 1:24
I have recently learned about offering up as a prayer any sufferings you might struggle with. I really like this idea because it turns an affliction into a beautiful outcome. Imagine a wilted flower in your garden right now.....I know mine are all wilted and close to death from the excrutiating Texas heat. Imagine if those little flowers offered up their afflictions as a prayer.....all of the sudden they would turn into the most beautiful blossiming flowers amdist the dreadful heat beating down on them. The same thing happens with us.....if we offer up our daily frustrations, aggetations, anxieties up to the Lord as a prayer, we can imagine little graces sprinkling down on us from Heaven. It is a powerful and wonderful form of prayer. As Christ offered up His suffering and dying on the cross for our salvation, as mothers, we can offer up an afflictions we have for our family's salvation.
My 4 year old son, Benjamin, has a mild to moderate hearing loss. He will have to wear hearing aides the rest of his life, unless they come up with some miraculous medical procedure to cure it. I tell him he can hear God's voice better than the rest of us. Because things are a little quieter in his soul, Jesus's voice is a little louder. "How lucky you are", I tell him. I will also teach him later in his life to offer up his suffering as a prayer......I can only imagine the souls that will be saved through his suffering if he will offer up his lack of hearing, annoyances, embarrassments of wearing hearing aides as a form of prayer. My first prayer daily is for his hearing to be healed, but if that is not God's will, I pray that he will accomplish greatness through his "disability". I hope and pray it will give him amazing "abilites" in this life.
So whatever afflictions you might be struggling with, try offering them up as a prayer for your family. You might not see the fruits of your suffering instantly, but no doubt there will be abundant fruit in days and years to come if you simply offer it up daily.
Blessing to you this Labor Day!
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