In the tribulation time we are being trained to support

Meditation on the Word: Psalm 31, 1-17.23-25

Fr. Fabricio Andrade

The Lord will be a stronghold in times of trouble. Today, I want to speak of being strong in the tribulation, when you need support in time of tribulation. I’m not saying it’s for you embrace suffering and say, “Wow, what a delight to suffer.” No, not that. But  actually to enter the tribulation, accept this suffering for purification.

They made an inquiry to the Pope Francis: “What do we do in the time of tribulation?”. He replied: “First – Do not despair ever. Always stay quiet. Second – Search a way to overcome this difficulty and, if you can not overcome it, one must bear it until an opportunity arises to overcome. Never panic, we just need time to understand.”

The quiet words of the Pope Francis  tells us about another way to be strong in tribulation: when it is necessary to support the tribulation. The Word of God will show us the secret to support it. The title of Psalm 31, “I give myself into your hands,” already contains a hint itself.

See, the Psalm shows us the secret to bearing it. More than proclaiming victory, we must support the struggle. Often, the word support is something heavy or negative. Today, our great training is the time that we’re going through the uncomfortable tribulation. Support is to be supported by someone who is bigger than me. The surfer is supported on the board, because the board is support for him not to sink. In our life, our support is the Lord. In tribulation we are supported by the Lord, that means it is the Lord who sustains us. The secret to being strong in tribulation is to trust this support that the Lord is giving me. While we are being shaken, the hand of God is supporting us. God brought you to this retreat to gather the pieces of your life. How many of us are the pieces? But the same hand that sustains us is the same that collects the pieces: the hand of God. No one drinks water in a broken glass because it will cut them. God has the courage to put his hand down, even if you are in pieces. You, who are this broken glass, which is broken for life, God is holding you.

“The secret to being strong in tribulation is trust this support that the Lord is giving me,” says Father Fabricio Andrade. Photo: File / cancaonova.com

Often when we are broken, wounded, we lack people who have the courage to support us. But God is not afraid to support us. In the time of tribulation, we are being trained for support. If we lose trust in God and not let ourselves be borne by him, we will break, as the glass falls down and breaks.

No one has the courage to move in the shards of a broken glass and tighten them, but the hands of Jesus, who have been injured by you, have the courage to move the pieces you are in. Whoever does not allow the hands of God to support them lives broken.

Who is being dragged in the middle of a flood and is a support, a stone, just clinging on that rock. The Lord is this rock, “The Lord is my rock.” For a microphone does not fall to the ground, it needs a hand to support it. So you need to let the hands of God support you.

When we fall and someone gives us a hand, we are being supported by that person. “Into your hands I commend my spirit. You redeemed me, O Lord. It is the Lord that I hope … “. God is supporting you, this Word needs to gain a greater force in your life. The husband needs the wife’s support, the wife needs her husband’s support and the children need parental support.

“Do not deliver up to the hands of my enemy. They define the sorrow of my life , the body and the soul. ” When we do not have the support, we fall to pieces. Look for those things in the media: the money, the mobile and the things of the world. But the only support that is able to sustain us is the Lord. So that we can support others we need to be supported by the Lord.

Strength In suffering is not learned, but lived. God wants to gather the pieces that he encounters in you. God is gathering the pieces of your marriage, your youth and your heart. God is being strong and putting you in his lap. Perhaps you are too tired to be support for others, but God is now supporting you. There is a support that is not magic and is not a joke: the baptism in the Holy Spirit. It is an experience with God through the Holy Spirit who gives us the grace to endure the tribulation.

Portuguese Transcription: Jakeline Megda D’Onofrio.