a Psalm: God, we praise you for the suffering that draws us closer to your Ways
in honor of Jen and Ryan DellaCrosse’s family and Jen’s extraordinary story of a cancer battle that is drawing people closer to God…
photo from The Catholic Talk Show YouTube Channel
oh Lord our God
i praise you for all you put us through
all that helps us receive and fully see You
today i praise you for the
humility and reliance that we learn
from suffering
with You
i praise you for suffering Lord
i praise you for what it brings
or maybe what it makes fall away
how through it
we see your face
more and more
seeking your presence
chiseling down our alliance
with self-reliance
or thinking we might
have achieved something
on our own
or that for a moment
we might believe
lies from the enemy that we
our cast out on our own
through suffering we feel the depth
of your love
that it is ohh so great
the comfort you bring
when we are sad or doubting
filling us with the life giving well
of a faith in You
a pursuit in You
a reliance in You
and what is to come
in eternal life
the freedom
that no matter
what we are enduring
you always have a plan
using our lives as a testimony
of what through You
we can withstand
today i saw it with a woman’s battle
with cancer
her courage, surrender, faith and grace
moved me at my core
it shook me to the bottom
of my soul
Lord God, it was in this moment
that i see how you are using her
because i felt your presence deeply
i longed to be more humble
letting go of all i have planned
for your plans
your will
not mine
so i too can find out
what i can withstand
i watched her husband
share the power of being
a witness to her journey
that being a witness
touched his heart and moved him
closer to You
oh Jesus, thank you
thank you
thank you
we know that you are everywhere
when we call out “Emmanuel”
we always know
“God is with us”
only if we open our hearts
allowing our souls
to keep us aware
we will never know
why some people suffer
and some don’t
but part of your beauty is
in the mystery of how you work
and how when we
surrender fully…that beauty
truly is all around us
we are never lost
even through all
the loss
the tears
the sadness
the pain
through you Jesus
we are found
your love truly
knows no bounds
what emerges is the simplicity
of your presence
so overwhelming that i can
feel it now
i longed and yearned for it
before i even knew it
i feel it now
as the Holy Spirit brings tears
to the tops of my eyes
it brings new words and prayers
out of my mouth
so now i fervently pray
for you to heal the suffering
of this woman
Lord God, i ask that you heal this cancer
heal all that are suffering
we look up to you Lord God
asking how we support anyone
in a season
of suffering
because when we see and feel
we understand what Paul
once wrote to the Corinthians
“if one part suffers, every part suffers with it;
it bring us together
in one body
one body of prayer
where as we reach out to you in moments
of suffering
we feel You
where when share in the suffering
of one of our brothers and sisters
we feel You
where when we pray with a love
of all our heart
all our souls
and all our strength
we feel You
today Lord, i pray
that You would
heal all this pain
and remind us
that our prayers are never in vain
because as we heard from this family’s Priest
we pray today because
“healing always happens”
just on God’s time
in this life or when the
body is risen in Heaven
so our faith must
never wain
healing always happens with your
touch Lord
it was your touch
that saved my heart
and it was your touch
that gave us the strength
to accept that you saved us
with faith alone
with the gift of your grace
so today
we pray as our lives
depended on it
as if we are reaching out
out to touch
just a piece of your cloak
we praise you for how you
use suffering
how you use the tenacity
and capacity of our sisters and brothers
to remind us we are never broken
that our lives are testimonies
of your goodness
when we stay open
we settle now
into that rest
the rest that comes
from the power of your gaze
we praise you Lord
for how this suffering draws people
a little closer
to the healing power
the healing power
of
your
Ways
