68. The Soul
Trial: a test of the performance, qualities, or suitability of someone or something.
- Google Documents Dictionary
Often the idea of being tested comes with a negative connotation. We’re not talking about entering the Olympics Games to test our well-trained bodies and mental resilience against other athletes. Instead, we’re referring to the pain and suffering we may experience when our world is shaken.
In a way, we are very much like those Olympic athletes; we have the capacity to build our spiritual and mental fitness by practising acceptance, surrender, trust and dependency on God. There are many daily opportunities for us to train - someone cuts you off in traffic, your TV goes out right before the State of Origin, students keep acting up in class, it's Friday night and your kids don’t want to go to bed. All great spiritual workouts are good preparation for the many life experiences we cannot control or change.
Some trials are far more difficult and painful. In these moments, we might wonder about Jesus being led into the desert and tested for 40 days. How could He have endured that trial without a deep trust and connection with God? And how can we grow in our trust and connection with God? Perhaps Jesus endured the desert by being sustained and loved by his Father through prayer. We too can build up our spiritual endurance when we engage in the same daily practice of prayer.
We don’t often consider the other trials Jesus encountered. The times he continued to teach and heal people despite being hungry, mentally drained and exhausted. The times he travelled long distances on dirt roads without a home to sleep in. Or the times people shunned and rejected him, and even tried to stone or throw him off a cliff!
Franciscan priest Richard Rohr says that, 'after the age of thirty, we have more to learn from our failures than we do from our successes'. Trials, although painful and heartbreaking, have the capacity to grow and expand our hearts. They teach us how to care for and give to others. Perhaps in the end, Jesus was able to fully give of himself and acquiesce to his greatest trial because he was formed by a lifetime of smaller trials while growing in acceptance, surrender, trust and dependence on God.
At times people may try to comfort us by saying that God will not give us more than we can handle. Perhaps the real comfort is in knowing that we have a God who is in the thick and worst of it with us. A God that sustains us with peace. A God who gives us the Holy Spirit. A God who can transform all things for good; including our trials. A God who understands, even when we don’t.
Through our trials, let us continue to surrender, trust and depend on the God who loves us without fail.
- Jesus Did (Newsboys) - May we turn to Jesus who, through His actions and teachings, helps us to work through our brokenness.
- Up On This Rock (Vous Worship) - “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.” Matthew 7:24
- Growing Pains (Elevation Rhythm) - Sometimes in life we can’t see past this moment. Lord, help us to trust that Your constant presence is always with us.
- Switching Off: How to Truly Go ‘Out of Office’ These Holidays - There’s nothing wrong with thinking about work or specific projects outside of your work hours, however not being able to switch off from work can be detrimental to your mental health. Click here to find some steps that will help you to switch off these holidays.
- Parents in Schools - It has been wonderful to see parents back on site in our schools. St Augustine’s Primary, Coffs Harbour invited parents to celebrate a Passover Meal with the children preparing for the Sacrament of First Communion. St Francis Xavier Primary, Woolgoolga have parents attending Stage Masses and Mary Help of Christians Primary, Sawtell had parents come in for their learning journey.
- Accendere (Year 4 Retreat) - Accendere is a retreat offered for Year 4 students as part of our Diocesan Student Discipleship Continuum. St Patrick’s Primary, Macksville invited students from St Mary’s Primary, Bowraville for their retreat and a great day was had by all!
- Fr Michael and Zippy’s Pedal Power - Fr Michael Alcock and his dog, Zippy, have embarked on their journey to Adelaide to raise funds for the Lismore Flood Relief Appeal and Fr Telesphor Zanda in Tanzania, where funds are donated to an orphanage and a centre for the blind, lame and elderly. Click here to view an article published by Coffs Coast News Of The Area. Updates from Fr Michael can also be found on the Sawtell Parish Facebook page.
- The Genius Podcast - In this week's episode of The Genius Podcast, host Karen Doyle is joined by Sr Miriam James Heidland (SOLT). Sr Miriam James has a powerful story of encountering the pure and authentic love of Jesus and the power that love has to restore and heal the most broken parts of our life.
- God's Deep Love For Us - In his article, Fr Andrew Hamilton describes how the concept of the Trinity expresses the depth of God’s involvement with us in the salvation that Jesus brought us.
- The Bridge - A resource from the Australian Catholic Bishops' National Centre for Evangelisation.
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