In this life, we are faced with many sufferings whether it may come as physical or internal. We all suffer in order to endure hard things in this life to become stronger just like how the muscle in our bodies endure pain during exercise or through a sport in order to become stronger. Even the holiest of people endure suffering such as Mother Teresa. She gave up everything to live her life in poverty in order to serve others, even those who were not worthy of it. Mother Teresa’s largest suffering that she endured was the silence from God during the time she began working with the poor. She described it as “there is such a terrible darkness within me, as if everything was dead.” She constantly prayed and served all those around her when she herself was going through such a empty time without a response from God. Mother Teresa knew her calling was to serve the poorest in the most dangerous places of the world, but when she was receiving no guidance from the Lord, she felt lost. Even though she spent most of her days waiting for a response from God, Mother still pursued her calling of serving others, when she could have very well given up.
Mother Teresa is an amazing example to us in the way she persevered in serving others even when she felt empty and alone in terms of her conversations with the Lord. I have felt most of my life that I hear nothing from the Lord. I pray and I wait to hear his guidance but I get nothing back. There is no cure for this silence from the Lord, all you can do is to continue and trust in the Lord. I have learned a few things in order to help with the silence. The first is to empty your mind in the time of prayer, and to get rid of any distractions during this time. Put your phone on the other side of the house, and perhaps find a quiet place in your home or in a nearby chapel. The second is instead of letting your mind run with “What am I going to pray next?” or “What am I going to have for dinner?” is to sit in silence and let your mind relax in the presence of the Lord. The last thing is to continue trusting in the Lord. It can get extremely frustrating when you continue to pray and still hear silence, but trust in the Lord and he will guide you. Now I am not saying with these 3 things, you will instantly hear a God’s voice telling you exactly what to do, but they will help in the continual trust you must have in him in order for him to guide you. And when you do these things and you are still feeling empty inside, pray to Mother Mary through the rosary and Mother Teresa to help with this feeling. We are all here on this earth for a reason, and God has a plan for each one of us but we must be patient and trust in him.
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