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<\/p>\n“Moses\u2019 hands, however, grew tired;
\nso they put a rock in place for him to sit on.
\nMeanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his hands,
\none on one side and one on the other,
\nso that his hands remained steady till sunset”.<\/p>\n
“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,
\nwho will judge the living and the dead,
\nand by his appearing and his kingly power:
\nproclaim the word;
\nbe persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient;
\nconvince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching”.<\/p>\n
“But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?\u201d<\/p>\n
Faith for some people is as natural as breathing. They seem to live with one leg in heaven already. They forgive and ask forgiveness with great ease. Without struggle they say morning and evening prayers \u00a0– daily, add a full Rosary in October, and appropriate prayers at other times of the year. Sunday without Mass is not Sunday for them at all \u2013 simple as that. They are blessed with single hearts, undivided and faith-full. I often wonder how much suffering their prayerful, extended hands have saved the World from.<\/p>\n
I met a women like that once years ago \u2013 we shared one room in a state sanatorium for two weeks. Every morning and evening this lady, a museum janitor, would kneel down on her rheumatic, painful\u00a0 knees and say Our Father, Hail Mary, the full Creed, as well as at least 15 minute long abbreviation of the Catholic Catechism, complete with Ten Commandments, Cardinal Virtues and Cardinal Sins, conditions of Reconciliation etc. At midday she prayed Angelus. Later, when we became friends (easy thing with her) she told me a bit about her life which was one string of war-time suffering and evictions, culminating in loss of all family. And yet she was cheerful, open to people and possessed deep sense of dignity.<\/p>\n
Then, there are others to whom faith is almost impossible, at times alien, at other times distant, difficult, and in extremis \u00a0judged by themselves to be contrary to reason. They struggle \u201cagainst it\u201d, or \u201cfor it\u201d most of their lives, torn between eagerness for God and rejection. For such people a decade of Rosary for is an effort and Sunday Mass a venture of magnitude of a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. They are often misunderstood in confessionals when they master enough courage to dive into one.\u00a0 If they sin \u2013 as we all do \u2013 they feel it deeply. A few contrary words from the priest may make them feel\u00a0 cast out and unwanted in the Church. Once they leave Her they may never come back again.<\/p>\n
Some priests have special charisma for helping the difficult faithful and it is worthwhile to find someone like that if we happen to belong to this group.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Saint John Paul II, whose 38 anniversary of election we celebrate today, loved both the easy faithful and the difficult ones. I have met countless Catholics across the world who came back to the Church drawn by him \u2013 his words, his own faith, his prayer, his smile, and also his suffering, especially at the end of his life.<\/p>\n
As JPII generation ages, it will appreciate Saint\u2019s last painful years better. His heroism at that time may help those who will struggle with temptation of euthanasia, as the trend to end one\u2019s life takes deeper hold in the West.<\/p>\n
By the way – prayer to John Paul II is so easy.. I remember sitting in a hospital by the bed of a woman waiting for her operation, which was a serious one and also an emergency, due to land on the opt table \u201cas soon as professor comes to do it\u201d . The patient was in great pain and no amount of painkillers flowing into her system through the IV tube, seemed to work. Attendant doctors and nurses were worried \u2013 they have never had such unresponsive patient. All I could do was sit and pray. I had a picture with John Paul II\u2019 \u00a0with his relic in my bag but was reluctant to even talk about it at this point. Before I left (in response to \u201coh, please go home, you cannot help me and I need to concentrate on this pain\u201d) I talked to him in my heart \u2013 \u201cYou know I cannot even leave your picture here, but, if possible \u2013 do something for her \u2013 she is suffering so horribly\u201d. And I left. Next day (the operation successful and \u00a0patient awake) I learned that, unexplainably, the pain stopped suddenly a few minutes after my departure.<\/p>\n
I may have written about it already \u2013 I do not remember \u2013 but miracles need to be remembered. They fortify our faith, make it easier, happier and filled with gratitude.<\/p>\n
With happy memories in heart, the extended hands ache less.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/b> Maria Kozakiewicz<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“Moses\u2019 hands, however, grew tired; so they put a rock in place for him to sit on. Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other, so that his hands remained steady till sunset”. “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n