It is difficult, perhaps impossible, to find a person who does not have pain, sickness, worries of one kind or another. It should not happen to the Christian what St. Gregory the Great comments: "There are some who want to be humble, but without being despised; they want to be content with what they have, but without suffering need; to be chaste, but without mortifying their body; to be patient, but without anyone outraging them. When they try to acquire virtues, and at the same time shun the sacrifices that virtues bring with them, they resemble those who, fleeing from the battlefield, would like to win the war by living comfortably in the city "9. Without pain and effort there is no virtue.
We must reckon with difficulties, worries and sorrows; at some times they will manifest themselves in a more costly way, and at others in a lighter one; but with Christ they will always be bearable. These contradictions, big or small, accepted and offered to God, do not oppress; on the contrary, they dispose the soul to prayer and to see God in the little events of life. The Lord will not allow any pain to come to us, any hardship, that we cannot overcome by turning to Him for help. If we ever encounter a greater setback, the Lord will also give us a greater grace: "If God gives you the burden, God will give you the strength.
As long as we are on earth, we must count difficulties as a matter of course. St. Peter already warned the first Christians: "Dear friends, when God tests you with the fire of tribulations, do not miss it as if something very extraordinary were happening to you. Let us not be surprised; it is precisely by the way of the Cross that the path of happiness and efficacy passes. The Lord often allows contradiction to come upon those whom he loves most so that they may bear even more fruit: every branch that is united to the vine bears fruit, he prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. But he never leaves us alone; Jesus is always close to his own, especially when the burden of life is felt the most.