I recall Raymond Arroyo saying that when he was writing his book about Mother Angelica she said something about not emphasizing her sufferings lest they scare people off.
I was reminded of that while reading today's selection from St. Gregory in the Lit of the Hours concerning St. Paul:
They have nothing but patient scorn for the enemy who moves against them, but they sympathize with their weaker fellows and bring them back to the safe way, opposing the former lest they lead others astray and fearing for the latter lest they completely lose sight of the truly upright life...
When beset by so many struggles, [St. Paul] guards the camp, he tells us, with great watchfulness. Immediately he adds: 'Besides these outward difficulties there is that daily weight upon me: my anxiety for all the churches'...He endures the attacks without, inasmuch as he suffers flogging and chains; inwardly he experiences fear, since he is afraid that his sufferings may be a stumbling-block not to himself but to his disciples. For this reason he writes to them: 'Let no one be shaken by these trials, for you know that they are our lot.' Amid his own sufferings it was the fall of others he feared, lest the disciples, seeing him flogged for the faith, might refuse to acknowledge their own faith. What an immensely loving heart! He thinks nothing of what he himself suffers and is concerned only that the disciples may be led astray interiorly.
All-pro Cincinnati Bengal Mike Reid gave up his NFL career to write songs, including this country song, heard on the radio today:
We have come to this place in our love
Where faith must be stronger than fear
For if true love is our destination
Thru every storm it must always be clear
The surest way to get there from here
CHORUS:
Is to walk on faith
Trust in love
Just keep on putting one foot down
In front the other
when the valley so wide
We stumble in stride
And everything inside wants to give up
Walk on faith trust in love
Farther on beyond the shadows of our doubts
We will live where true love never dies
Though the road we must travel is uncertain
There is a truth in our hearts that never lies
It is by such grace we are bound to arrive
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