The WORD in other words (2018) by Fr Louie Punzalan SVD – University of San Carlos, Cebu City
Friday 6th Week of Easter
Amy Carmichael, author of Edges of His Ways, writes, “Sorrow is one of the things that are lent, not given. A thing that is lent may be taken away; a thing that is given is not taken away. Joy is given; sorrow is lent.
Carmichael, then relates how the Father intervenes, to transform sorrow into joy. “We are not our own, we are bought with a price, ‘and our sorrow is not our own’ …, it is lent to us for just a little while that we may use it for eternal purposes. Then it will be taken away and everlasting joy will be our Father’s gift to us, and the Lord God will wipe away all tears from off all faces.
Carmichael continues to explain sorrow, “So let us use this ‘lent’ thing to draw us nearer to the heart of Him Who was once a Man of Sorrows … Let us use it to make us more tender with others, as He was when on earth and is still, for He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities.”
We always say that life is like the mysteries of the Rosary: sometimes joyful, mostly sorrowful and occasionally glorious. It may not always be easy to understand life’s mysteries.
The mightiest are those who have been mightiest in their sorrows and agonies. There are also luminous moments when we feel the loving presence of God who does not abandon us especially during our darkest and most difficult moments. Life is never always full of sorrows.
Many moments are also joyful, glorious and luminous. Upon seeing the Risen Christ, the joy of the disciples became complete and absolute.
Ask the Father in prayer because He knows the bitter, weary way. The wounds the world has never seen, God knows. We can bear anything because we know that God knows.
