“Be firm in your resolutions. Stay in the boat the Lord has placed you in, and when the storm comes, you will not perish. It may seem to you that Jesus is sleeping, but it only seems that way.”
—letter to an unknown addressee, December 27, 1917
We have all had moments in our lives when we feel as if God doesn’t see or hear us—times when things don’t make sense and you feel beaten down by life. Padre Pio was certainly no different. There were many times when he suffered under the burden of the things Christ had laid upon him.
But St. Pio never lost faith that there was a greater purpose for his suffering. He knew that Christ was and always would be right there beside him in the boat during his times of struggle.
The question is: Can we do the same when we are challenged?
In Padre Pio’s Own Words
I bow my head, I bow it again willingly, to the blows of the divine justice that is rightfully indignant with me. But nothing works anymore to reawaken eternal life in me, nothing works anymore to reanimate my mortally wounded spirit….
Praying, my father, brings a sting of mortal pain and suffering now that is terrible to recall.
I cannot piece anything together. I do not know if my prayers are really prayers or just expressions of strong resentment that my heart addresses to God out of the fullness of my pain. I feel an empty void within me that is horrible to think about when I am in that state. God is always hidden to my spirit, although I watch for him and am being worn down in my frantic but necessary quest.
(To Fr. Benedetto of San Marco in Lamis, June 4, 1918)
Prayer
St. Pio, remind us that Jesus is always with us—even when we are struggling and feeling alone.
Let your example of always turning yourself and struggles over to Christ serve as a model for us to follow.
