Ile-iṣẹ Rijks, Amsterdam, 1630
LATI oluka kan:
Ninu igbesi aye adura mi ati ni gbigbadura fun awọn ohun kan pato, paapaa ilokulo ti ọkọ mi ti awọn aworan iwokuwo ati gbogbo awọn nkan ti o jẹ abajade nipa ilokulo yii, gẹgẹbi aibikita, aiṣododo, igbẹkẹle, ipinya, ibb. Jesu sọ fun mi pe ki o kun fun ayọ ati ọpẹ. Mo gba pe Ọlọrun gba wa laaye ọpọlọpọ awọn ẹru ni igbesi aye ki awọn ẹmi wa le di mimọ ati pe. O fẹ ki a kọ ẹkọ lati ṣe akiyesi ẹṣẹ tiwa ati ifẹ ti ara ẹni ati mọ pe a ko le ṣe ohunkohun laisi Rẹ, ṣugbọn O tun sọ fun mi ni pataki lati gbe pẹlu ayọ. Eyi dabi pe o yẹra fun mi… Emi ko mọ bi a ṣe le ni ayọ ni aarin irora mi. Mo gba pe irora yii jẹ aye lati ọdọ Ọlọrun ṣugbọn Emi ko loye idi ti Ọlọrun fi gba iru iwa buburu yii ni ile mi ati bawo ni MO ṣe reti lati ni ayọ nipa rẹ? O kan n sọ fun mi lati gbadura, dupẹ lọwọ ati ki o ni ayọ ati rẹrin! Eyikeyi awọn ero?
Eyin olukawe. Jesu is otitọ. Nitorinaa oun ki yoo beere lọwọ wa lati gbe ninu irọ. Oun kii yoo beere wa rara “lati dupẹ lọwọ ki a si ni ayọ ki a rẹrin” nipa ohunkan ti o buruju bi afẹsodi ti ọkọ rẹ. Tabi Oun nireti pe ẹnikan yoo rẹrin nigbati olufẹ kan ba ku, tabi padanu ile rẹ ninu ina, tabi ti yọ kuro ni iṣẹ kan. Awọn ihinrere ko sọ ti Oluwa n rẹrin tabi rẹrin musẹ lakoko Ifẹ Rẹ. Kàkà bẹẹ, wọn sọ bi Ọmọ Ọlọrun ṣe farada ipo iṣoogun ti o ṣọwọn ti a pe hoematidrosis ninu eyiti, nitori ibanujẹ ọpọlọ ti o nira, awọn iṣan ẹjẹ nwaye, ati awọn didi ẹjẹ ti o tẹle lẹhin naa ni a mu kuro lati oju awọ ara nipasẹ lagun, ti o han bi awọn ẹjẹ silẹ (Luku 22:44).
Nitorinaa, lẹhinna, kini awọn ọrọ mimọ wọnyi tumọ si:
E ma yo ninu Oluwa nigbagbogbo. Emi yoo sọ lẹẹkansi: yọ! (Fílí. 4: 4)
Ẹ máa dúpẹ́ ní gbogbo ipò, nítorí èyí ni ìfẹ́ Ọlọ́run fún yín nínú Kírísítì Jésù. (1 Tẹs 5:18)
IN THE LORD
St. Paul does not say to rejoice in your circumstances fun kan, rather, "rejoice ninu Oluwa." That is, rejoice in the knowledge that He loves you unconditionally, that what is occurring in your life is permitted by "the will of God for you in Christ Jesus," and that "the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us" (Rom 8:18). St. Paul is speaking about rejoicing in the "big picture," and the big picture is the Incarnation—the gift of Jesus to a world lost at sea. He is the safe harbor that gives us refuge, meaning, and purpose. Without Him, life is a meaningless and random accumulation of actions that culminate in the silence of the grave. With Him, even my most senseless and mysterious sufferings have meaning because He sees every one of my tears, and will reward them when this brief life is over.
Everything else will pass and will be taken away from us, but the Word of God is eternal and gives meaning to our daily activity. — PÓPÙ BENEDICT XVI, On Martha and Mary, Keje 18th, 2010, Zenit.org
Joy in this sense, then, is not an emotion; it is not a display such as forced laughter, buoyancy, or flippancy in the face of trials. It is a fruit of the Holy Spirit born from ireti. In Christ’s life and words, He gave us faith; in His death, He gave us ni ife; and in His Resurrection He gave us hope —hope that death and sin is not the final victor. That abortion, pornography, divorce, war, division, poverty, and all the social ills that bring about today’s suffering do not, in the end, have the final say. Joy, then, is the child of this hope. It is a joy borne on the wings of a divine perspective.
In the prayers of the Church, we read:
Lord, remember your pilgrim Church. We sit weeping at the streams of Babylon. Do not let us be drawn into the current of the passing world, but free us from every evil and raise our thoughts to the heavenly Jerusalem. -Lilọ ni Awọn wakati, Psalm-prayer, Vol. II, p. 1182
When we raise our thoughts to Heaven, we indeed experience joy, even though it may be subtle and quiet, hidden in the heart as often was the joy of the Blessed Mother. In the Knights of Columbus, we have a Latin motto:
Tempus fugit, memento mori .
"Time flies, remember death." Living in this way, remembering that our material wealth, our careers, our status, our health—and our sufferings—are passing, and passing quickly, helps us to keep a divine perspective. Otherwise, we are like the one where,
…the seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the Word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. (Matt 13:22)
Fruit, such as ayo. Once again, it is in adura where this fruit is discovered and rediscovered…
MO F LN MI
Today, before sitting down to write you, I knelt before the Tabernacle in the church. Standing over the abyss of my own misery and sinfulness, I looked up at the Crucifix. It was at that moment that I realized once again that I am not condemned. How could I be? Here I was kneeling before Him, asking His forgiveness, and willing to start over, despite the fact this is the millionth time of starting over. How could He, who died so that I could be forgiven, refuse a sincere and contrite heart (see Psalm 51:19)? Even though the setbacks and trials that caused me to lose patience still remained, there was within my soul a quiet and present joy. It was the joy that I am loved, that I am forgiven, that His hand has permitted these things, and therefore, that is enough for me to know.
My trials remain. But I am loved. I can give thanks in all circumstances because I am loved, and He would never allow even my sufferings if they were not ordered toward the good of my soul and others.
HE CARES
And because we are loved by God, He cares about the details. St. Paul says "rejoice in the Lord," but then…
…The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. (Phil 4:5-6)
St. Peter writes,
Sọ gbogbo awọn iṣoro rẹ le e nitori o nṣe abojuto rẹ. (1 Pita 5: 7)
The Lord hears the cry of the poor… the spiritually poor, those who cry out from their poverty in faith and gbekele.
All who call upon me I will answer; I will be with them in distress; I will deliver them and give them honor. (Psalm 91:15)
It is a spiritual promise. When my sister died in a car accident when I was 19 years old, the fruit of joy seemed to fall from the tree of my heart. How could I possibly be joyful if I would never see my sister again in this life? How could He "deliver" me from this sorrow?
The answer is that, ultimately, by His grace, I called upon rẹ rather than booze, sex, or materialism in order to snuff out my grief. I miss my sister to this day… but the Lord is my joy because I lero that I will not only see her again, but I will wo the Lord who loved me first. My sister’s death, the frailty of life, the passing of all things, the emptiness of sin… these realities faced me at a very young age, and the truth of them tilled the soil of my heart so that joy—true joy—could be born in hope.
Nitorina bawo ni o ṣe le ti o be joyful in this present state of abandonment as you watch the spiritual death of your husband and the tragic decay of his marriage vows as he is seemingly carried away by the currents of Babylon?
By the rivers of Bablyon there we sat and wept, remembering Zion… O how could we sing the song of the Lord…? (Psalm 137:1, 4)
The answer is that, at this moment, you are called once again to a divine perspective. Sin is never God’s will. But He can also make all things work to the good for those who love Him. You may be called, as was Jesus, to offer your life for your husband, a more literal fulfillment of your own vows to him. As such, you need to see that the value of your husband’s soul far outweighs the sufferings of this present life. Joy can be born in the hope that not only will your sufferings end with unspeakable joy, but your husband’s soul may be eternally rescued through the spiritual offering of your prayers and intercession for him (that does not mean that you should endanger yourself or others around you, or that you should be abused yourself.)
Joy in these circumstances is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, born from hope, and found in the yoo ti Ọlọrun. I want to write about this next—the will of God. My last three writings have all been a preparation for it. In the meantime, I am praying for you and your husband that he—and millions of men like him—will be set free from the devastating plague of pornography that is quietly destroying families and marriages throughout the world.
IKỌ TI NIPA:
- A wife’s powerful love for an unfaithful husband… Ife Ti O Segun
