Tapsearch Com EditorFather Jonathan Morris and suffering
April 28th 2008 18:46
I just finished reading The Promise - God's purpose and plan when life hurts by Father Jonathan Morris. His father is my close friend. We have shared Jesus together for years.
At the same time, Reverend Father Joseph Shell S.J. died at the age of 93. Father Shell was my professor who taught me Logic and Metaphysics at John Carroll University. He was also my spiritual advisor for a time and a spiritual advisor for my daughter fourty years later. He was President of John Carroll University from 1967 to 1970 and seemed to be too gentle for the job. The testimonies of his saintly ways are flowing now after his death.
Back then I lived in two different worlds. I worked at several factories while attending college. I went from Father's Metaphysics class to spot welding transformer cases later in the day . The void between the factory floors and the college class rooms was vast and I never escaped it. This is why I pursue the study of dualism relating to labor and work even now and call labor and work the stepchildren of philosophy and religion.
Father Shell tended to many suffering calamities in their lives even after their graduation.
He made God real in large and small ways. He lived his life the same way.
Today, with he in me - more than any other teacher I ever had , I agree with Terry Pluto, a top sports writer at the Cleveland Plain Dealer, who surrender all his contractions with the Lord as his father was dying with this prayer - OK God, get me through this. It took him a long time to pray that particular prayer but after reading Matthew 26:38 with Jesus saying - My soul is overwhelmed to the point of death, he prayed it and the Lord absorbed him in that prayer and got him through the heavy stuff. See The Rationale - Suffering - is live worth living
A young mother who is close to our family, weakened by years of chemotherapy, now likes to go and watch her daughter play soccer. She watches sitting in her parked car being too weak to watch any closer. It reminds me of Jesus living in the resurrection. After rising from the dead, he seemed to just want to spend time with his friends.
Another very close friend, who died from pancreatic cancer, left his hospital bed during the last stages of his disease to attend a funeral of a close business associate. It perhaps hasten his own death but no one could talk him out of doing it. I visited him in the hospital just a few days prior to that. I was wondering what I could do to help him and make him change his mind. After praying about it, I found myself in a usual debate we had about the importance of sports in our lives. I lived the resurrection with him during these moments and got him going on his favorite subject after making my usual comments about the movie the Field of Dream. Hopefully, he forgot about his condition for a time after our usual debate. Perhaps friendly irritation can be a healing agent too. At least, I hoped I armed him with his last journey in the world.
Another very close friend with whom we shared many years in the business years, walked with me a few months before his death and he was trying to confess to me things I would not accept as sins. His head was bald and scarred from a brain tumor operation. His confession was minor compared to what he was ready to give the Lord - his own personal cross.
Soon after both of these friends deaths, their wifes followed them quickly. I never knew what to say to them. The one wife told me a Jewish Rabbi gave her the best advice. He told her to wail and wail as much as she could for about six months and stop. This did heal for awhile but the pain of losing her husband proved to be too much and as the priest at the funeral said, she went to join her husband at home.
Now Father Jonathan Morris, a young priest, writes a book about suffering and offers not only a deeply spiritual answer but also a practical one to this most fundamental of human questions: Why do we suffer? I liked Father Morris's attempts at practical solutions. Too many of us hide in the spritual and neglect living in the resurrection just working with normal solutions while we let God do His thing.
Father Morris says the best thing we can do for the general community in an order of things is to surround us with tools to meet the challenges related to suffering and evil happenings . He says the best thing to do is to say nice things about others.
I was surprised when I was chosen my my sister in law and her family to lead the funeral services for my brother-in-law. I had the unique moment in time to pray over him for his salvation and did it. It was the last time I saw him alive. At the service I found myself deeply involved with acting as his defense attorney in front of the Lord. I also wanted to sell my brother-in-law's grandchildren that life is worth living as my Zorba the Greek brother-in-law did. What good is life, if you live it hidden in fear. He led me to be bold in my presentation. My boldness in front of the heavenly courts suprised even me.
( I wrote the healing prayer for my close friend that died from pancreatic cancer - perhaps you could end this post with it - See The Healing Prayer We suggest the reading of The Promise by Father Jonathan with this prayer fastened in your heart and soul.
At the same time, Reverend Father Joseph Shell S.J. died at the age of 93. Father Shell was my professor who taught me Logic and Metaphysics at John Carroll University. He was also my spiritual advisor for a time and a spiritual advisor for my daughter fourty years later. He was President of John Carroll University from 1967 to 1970 and seemed to be too gentle for the job. The testimonies of his saintly ways are flowing now after his death.
Back then I lived in two different worlds. I worked at several factories while attending college. I went from Father's Metaphysics class to spot welding transformer cases later in the day . The void between the factory floors and the college class rooms was vast and I never escaped it. This is why I pursue the study of dualism relating to labor and work even now and call labor and work the stepchildren of philosophy and religion.
Father Shell tended to many suffering calamities in their lives even after their graduation.
He made God real in large and small ways. He lived his life the same way.
Today, with he in me - more than any other teacher I ever had , I agree with Terry Pluto, a top sports writer at the Cleveland Plain Dealer, who surrender all his contractions with the Lord as his father was dying with this prayer - OK God, get me through this. It took him a long time to pray that particular prayer but after reading Matthew 26:38 with Jesus saying - My soul is overwhelmed to the point of death, he prayed it and the Lord absorbed him in that prayer and got him through the heavy stuff. See The Rationale - Suffering - is live worth living
A young mother who is close to our family, weakened by years of chemotherapy, now likes to go and watch her daughter play soccer. She watches sitting in her parked car being too weak to watch any closer. It reminds me of Jesus living in the resurrection. After rising from the dead, he seemed to just want to spend time with his friends.
Another very close friend, who died from pancreatic cancer, left his hospital bed during the last stages of his disease to attend a funeral of a close business associate. It perhaps hasten his own death but no one could talk him out of doing it. I visited him in the hospital just a few days prior to that. I was wondering what I could do to help him and make him change his mind. After praying about it, I found myself in a usual debate we had about the importance of sports in our lives. I lived the resurrection with him during these moments and got him going on his favorite subject after making my usual comments about the movie the Field of Dream. Hopefully, he forgot about his condition for a time after our usual debate. Perhaps friendly irritation can be a healing agent too. At least, I hoped I armed him with his last journey in the world.
Another very close friend with whom we shared many years in the business years, walked with me a few months before his death and he was trying to confess to me things I would not accept as sins. His head was bald and scarred from a brain tumor operation. His confession was minor compared to what he was ready to give the Lord - his own personal cross.
Soon after both of these friends deaths, their wifes followed them quickly. I never knew what to say to them. The one wife told me a Jewish Rabbi gave her the best advice. He told her to wail and wail as much as she could for about six months and stop. This did heal for awhile but the pain of losing her husband proved to be too much and as the priest at the funeral said, she went to join her husband at home.
Now Father Jonathan Morris, a young priest, writes a book about suffering and offers not only a deeply spiritual answer but also a practical one to this most fundamental of human questions: Why do we suffer? I liked Father Morris's attempts at practical solutions. Too many of us hide in the spritual and neglect living in the resurrection just working with normal solutions while we let God do His thing.
Father Morris says the best thing we can do for the general community in an order of things is to surround us with tools to meet the challenges related to suffering and evil happenings . He says the best thing to do is to say nice things about others.
I was surprised when I was chosen my my sister in law and her family to lead the funeral services for my brother-in-law. I had the unique moment in time to pray over him for his salvation and did it. It was the last time I saw him alive. At the service I found myself deeply involved with acting as his defense attorney in front of the Lord. I also wanted to sell my brother-in-law's grandchildren that life is worth living as my Zorba the Greek brother-in-law did. What good is life, if you live it hidden in fear. He led me to be bold in my presentation. My boldness in front of the heavenly courts suprised even me.
( I wrote the healing prayer for my close friend that died from pancreatic cancer - perhaps you could end this post with it - See The Healing Prayer We suggest the reading of The Promise by Father Jonathan with this prayer fastened in your heart and soul.
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Comment by Anonymous
This morning I invited two women (really strangers) over for "coffee with a purpose". Why? Because I know that we all suffer...........and a bit of life and fellowship and kindness extended can bring a "spot" of joy to "my" strangers as well as to me.... and then maybe that spot will become a blotch extended by them.....and more spots will start popping up. I invite them over also because love dictates it.........to not just sit back in my own suffering but to participate in the "hope" that the world so desperately needs.
Have a good day, Ray!!!
Sharon
Comment by Tapsearch Com Editor
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His book - The Promise- is a studied exploration into suffering. I particularly liked the positive approach- he says, Living to avoid defeat is a sure way to miss out the great adventure of living a life of freedom.
Others may have branded you as a failure, but you have the power of God to unbond from these lies.
In his chapter - Sourcing the Suffering - Father Jonathan talks about the healing of memories - "We tend to forget the "glue" that binds these develish lies to the victim....
Everytime, these branded lies exposed themselves, even after many years, you can find a quiet place to pray them away. When we are open to these areas of recall, with some -- call them "curses" being hidden for years, God can enter and heal. It is a very "ordinary miracle of a complete mental overhaul.
(John Bradshaw offered methods in healing the inner child - search him out on the web. He wrote a book about it in the late 1980s and had a series on PBS. Who ever told you , you are less than who you are, should be sidelined from your mind. If possible, you can revisit some of the locations where the damage was suffered and take the child or person in you that was hurt away from the place.)
HOW COULD ANYONE EVER TELL YOU , YOU ARE LESS THAN BEAUTIFUL . This is a title to a song. Try to find it and listen to it. Let it flow into your being.