Suffocating Under the Weight of Life? A Priest's Simple Tip on How to Breathe Again

 

When Life Feels Overwhelming, Look to the Martyrs

My dear brothers and sisters, there is so much to draw from in just these simple Friday morning readings.

St. Paul tells his beloved Timothy that the marks of a true apostle of Christ are perseverance, endurance, love, patience, and faith in the face of persecution. And when we feel like we are going through a really bad time, all we need to do is remind ourselves of the lives of the martyrs. That’s it. Once we do that, we can rest assured that what we are going through isn’t even close to what they went through.

We all know that feeling. We try our best and still get knocked down. No good deed goes unpunished, as the saying goes. And we feel genuinely bad about what we’re experiencing.

Then we read about the martyrs.

The Example of St. Boniface

Take St. Boniface. Born in England, he traveled to Germany to convert the Germanic people. He was out there preaching, preparing people for confirmation, doing all of this good and difficult work, when a group of pagans killed him. Everything back then was already hard. And yet he pressed on, only to be cut down in the middle of it all.

That is what real suffering looked like.

A Way of Life, Not Just a Teaching

Whenever you are going through a tough time, whenever you are feeling really low, read the lives of the martyrs. You will find yourself thinking, okay, I can handle this. I can get through this.

That is exactly what St. Paul was pointing Timothy toward. “You have followed my teaching, my way of life.” And what is that way of life? Faith, patience, love, endurance, and a willingness to suffer. Not because suffering is pleasant, but because we believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

Amen.