Fears and Tears

Bittersweet, that is how my heart feels. There is a part that suffers and there is a part that feels joy. In my silent suffering, I pray to God. In my joy, I pray to God.

In my sorrows and in my joys, He is with me. He knows me to the very depths of my soul. I know that God is love and is trustworthy. He keeps His promises. I have personally witnessed the power of prayer, and that is my hope. It is my Lord and my God.

A rose is an incredible flower, very beautiful, and at the same time, has thorns that pierce and cause pain. A lovely fragrance, sweet and inviting, is a rose. To accept a rose is to embrace both the beauty and the thorn. They go together.

“It is my weakness that gives me all the strength.” St. Therese of Lisieux.

A Lenten devotion that is bittersweet is the Stations of the Cross. Jesus suffered so much during His passion, He literally gave everything, to redeem us. He held nothing back and offered Himself to the Father.

The prayers of the fourteen stations of Christ’s passion are somber, bitter, and sweet. It is an emotional devotion that allows me to pray and contemplate each scene in my mind and heart.

“The endurance of darkness is the preparation for great light.” St. John of the Cross.

Dear Lord, in the parched desert of Lent, I follow Your sweet voice, and go the way that You lead me. It is rocky and dusty, and it is safe and protected. Thank you, my Lord and my God, for the bitter and the sweet, because they bring me to You. Amen.