Dear Kitty, I just read your dad’s story this morning in the book, Amazing Grace for Those Who Suffer. So many sentences and phrases he used were phrases I used as I struggled through a different, though similarly isolated 4 years of persecution.
p.53: For days I was in a trance-like state. Prayer was impossible for me. Just breathing was difficult. The daily torments and dehumanization continued…my choices were either to despair or to surrender even more fully to God’s incomprehensible plan for me.”
p.56: “…it is through suffering that we truly discover God.”
“p. 57: “Without an intense boot camp of personal suffering, most of us are simply not ready for personal redemption and eternal union with Him.”
p.59: “God’s grace is enough for us in all of life’s trials, for it is in accepting and embracing powerlessness that we become truly strong.”
I understood your dad’s description of living the Sorrowful Mysteries and his description of how the more severe the devastation, the more peace filled his soul. I googled his name to write him a thank you note for his story and found that he had died. Today’s spiritdaily.com has an article about how we build our houses in Heaven according to our deeds on earth. Your dad has a very big mansion in Heaven. He is an inspiration and a consolation for those who need confirmation that the persucutions we endure are God’s manifestations of His Mercy. It is through suffering that we witness to Christ. It is through suffering that we unite our crosses to His cross and take not only our own souls to Heaven, but other souls as well.
I am asking for your dad’s prayers now. And what testimonies he left in his family! God bless you and your family!
Katie
P.S. I was persecuted for about 4 years in both divorce court and in Family& Chilrens’ Services court, depositions given against me
by my entire living family. My family formed an alliance against me and for my ex, an abusive, suicidal, manic depressive Catholic medical doctor who was addicted to prescription drugs and alcohol. My family and my ex opposed my raising and homeschooling
my children in the Catholic Faith.