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Father Len and Irish grapple with the mystery of God’s intention for sickness and suffering in our lives.
Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom
- Irish shares his gut wrenching experiences with his youngest son’s heart attack and multiple kidney failures.
- Father Len tells the story of his father finding joy late in life after contracting ALS.
- Health, wealth, and personal achievements aren’t necessarily what makes life beautiful.
- Father Len shares neurosurgeon Eben Alexander’s revelations from a rare illness and near death experience that turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to him.
- “Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife” by Eben Alexander
- Father Len shares the stories of suffering and sickness that caused St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Julian of Norwich to become great Saints.
- “Revelations of Divine Love” by St. Julian of Norwich
- We discover God in our difficulties.
- “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer man is wasting away, our inner man is being renewed every day.” St. Paul, 2 Corinthians 4:16
- Where did we get the idea that if we’re good, God is obligated to bring us health?
- “There’s this fear that if we don’t have health and wealth and popularity, somehow our life is cursed. Maybe, like my dad, life becomes blessed because of sickness.” – Father Len
- Sickness teaches us how precious and frail life really is.
- When someone dies, even though we know life is temporary, it’s always a shock.
- The fact that we’re shocked by death means there’s something in us that says life should be full and death is wrong. There’s something in us that says sickness is wrong because we are meant for a full life. Maybe we’re not going to have that life here. Heaven is where we’ll have the absolute fullness of life.
- Joy can exist alongside sickness and suffering. Happiness can’t. Happiness is external. It depends on things like how we look, what kind of car we drive, and how much money we have. Joy is internal.
- “In life, we have to trust in someone or something. We can’t go through life without trusting. Everybody has to trust in something, even in the midst of loss and suffering. I trust that the God of life will bring greater life.” – Father Len