Accept the Struggle

By: Rick Hernandez

“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” (Matthew 9:12-13)

We see time and time again that Christ calls all peoples to Himself, especially those who are ill and need healing. We read and hear that our Lord tends to the pain of the suffering with His very own hands. Jesus does not question the pain but instead acknowledges the suffering. Moved by His compassionate heart, He gave back sight to the blind, washed clean the lepers, gave back hearing to the deaf, restored the paralyzed, and forgave the repentant sinners. Jesus, our Lord, is the Heavenly Physician, and the Church He left for us is meant to be a hospital. The Church is intended to offer healing, if somewhat different from the miracles we hear in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles.
 
Pope Francis goes further to say that our Church is a field hospital out into the world. He said the early Church is depicted as “a field hospital that takes in the weakest people: the infirm.” And that “The sick hold a privileged role in the Church and in the priestly heart of all the faithful. They are not to be cast aside. On the contrary, they are to be cared for, to be looked after. They are the objects of Christian concern.”
 
And I long for the day that we are all united with Christ in our love and concern for those among us who are ill, infirm, lonely, sad, depressed, dying, or living in desolation and poverty. Yet the reality we see is much different from this. People today want our Church to be an exclusive club, closed to those most in need of Christ’s love, mercy, and healing. We forget what it is to be as Christ. Did He not tend to those most in need?
In the sacrifice of the Eucharist, I see Christ’s heart hurting for us, calling us to love as He did, to care as He did. The Church is not a club but a place of healing.
 
I am often privy to conversations where one criticizes another or complains that someone is not doing the right things, and I am amazed at how easy it is for us to pass judgment upon our brother. Often, I find those judgments so unfair, for we do not know the whole story or situation. We are not omniscient. Only God knows the entire story, and judgment is reserved for Him.

“Stop judging, that you may not be judged, for as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2)

Let me share a story I read long ago.

“On Mount Athos in Northern Greece, there was once a monastery with a monk who got drunk every day and was the cause of scandal to the many pilgrims in the area. After many years, the monk died, and this relieved some of the faithful, who went on to tell the Elder, Father Paisios, that they were delighted that this huge problem was finally solved.
 
Father Paisios answered that he knew about the monk’s death, for he ‘saw the entire battalion of angels who came to collect his soul.’ The pilgrims were amazed at Father Paisios’ words, and some protested and tried to explain further to the Elder, thinking he did not understand the situation.
 
Seeing the situation, Elder Paisios explained that the monk was born in Asia Minor shortly before the destruction of the area by the Turks and that after the battles, the Turks ordered that all the boys of the region be gathered, a generation to be held captive.
 
The Turks took all the young children with them to the reaping, and so that they would not cry, they poured raki (an alcoholic drink) into their milk to keep them from crying. This treatment continued for many years, and therefore, the monk from Mount Athos grew up as an alcoholic. In time, the monk found the Elder and confessed that he was an alcoholic and could not stop his drinking, for he had been drinking since he was a young child.
                      
The Elder took him in and told him to do prostrations and prayers every night and beg the Blessed Mother Mary to help him reduce the glasses he drank by one. After a year of prostrations and prayers, he managed, with struggle and repentance, to make the 20 glasses he drank into 19 glasses.
 
The struggle continued over many years, and he eventually reached 2-3 glasses in a day, with which he would still get drunk. For years, the world has only seen an alcoholic monk who scandalized the pilgrims, but God saw a fighter who fought a long struggle to reduce his passion.” (Story of Elder Paisios and the Alcoholic Monk)
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​Fighting against sin is a life-long endeavor that will require all our strength.

“In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.” (Hebrews 12:4)

As with the monk, we need our Most Blessed Mother to pray for us. That is why we implore Mother Mary to “pray for us now and at the time of our death” that we may resist the temptation to abandon hope. We do not want to stop the struggle against sin, especially at the last moment.
 
The life-long fight against sin worked on the monk the same way a river polishes a river stone. Eventually, the friction rounds us up. In the struggle, the monk found fidelity, hope, and faith. He never gave up, and God never gave up on him. For his life’s work fighting against sin, he was recompensed with a host of angels escorting him up to Heaven. Can you imagine this glorious day in the House of our Lord?

“I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7)

The monastery was a field hospital for the monk. We thank God for the Elder who gave his time, love, and compassion. He helped raise a saint.
 
But what about the pilgrims of the story? Don’t they sound a little bit like us today? Let us learn this lesson of love and compassion and try to do better than the pilgrims, for the same way we have our stories of struggle, so do our brothers and sisters. Let us keep an open mind and lend a hand to those struggling and fighting against sin. Let us always remember we are all in this fight.

“Be assured, that storms do not last. Winter purifies the weather, kills all the little insects which devour the plants. Your soul seems to be dying in the midst of suffering. That is true, but it is in order to be reborn from its ashes. A soul which loves God lives through death. So have courage! [When we are] on the edge of a precipice, we must not look at the bottom, but look determinedly above; otherwise, we become dizzy. Fix your heart on our Lord. Rest assured that he is there within you, contemplating your struggles and preparing to reward them.” (Saint Peter Julian Eymard – Letter to Mrs. Franchet - March 21, 1851)

Let us pray: “Dear God, please give me strength when I am weak, love when I feel forsaken, courage when I am afraid, wisdom when I feel foolish, comfort when I am alone, hope when I feel rejected, and peace when I am in turmoil. Amen.” (Unknown Author)
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Rick Hernandez

Rick Hernandez is a commonsense Catholic, Lay Associate of the Blessed Sacrament, and a Director for Elisheba House. He lives in Trinity, Florida, with his wife Ivonne and their children. He also writes for the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament's Daily Eucharistic Reflections and for Catholicmom.com.