It’s Fénelon Friday!
LETTER 3: The Beauty of the Cross
I am amazed at the power that comes to us through suffering; we are worth nothing without the cross. Of course, I tremble and agonize while it lasts, and all my words about the beneficial effects of suffering vanish under the torture. But when it is all over, I look back on the experience with deep appreciation, and am ashamed that I bore it with so much bitterness. I am learning a great deal from my own foolishness!
So, regardless of the afflictions your friend is bearing, she is blessed in being so quiet under the hand of God. If she dies, she will go to the Lord: if she lives she will live for Him.
The Kingdom of God began at Calvary. The cross was a necessity. When we pick up the cross of Jesus and bear it in love to Him, his Kingdom has begun in us. We must be satisfied to carry that cross as long as it is His will. You have need of the cross as well as I. The faithful Giver of every good gift distributes them to each of us with His own hand. Blessed be His name! Every cross He gives us is for our profit!
Francis Fénelon, Let Go (New Kensington, PA: Whittaker House, 1973)
Learning To Be Full Of Grace And Truth. 