The Deacon Dave & Layperson Lisa Show

Prayer is a powerful tool for those who are suffering. And this works two ways. We can offer prayers for the one who is suffering but we can also ask the one who is suffering to pray for us. In many ways, prayer changes each one of us regardless of whether or not God answers our prayers for healing.

Today Cardinal Sarah talks about how Christ assumed human form to confront us with his absolute love. I have been confronted by a human being but not confronted with Love. It is hard to comprehend that, but it is true. Cardinal Sarah goes on to say that God’s only power is to love in silence. That brings me to immediately think the passion of Jesus, where he remained silent even when he was being...

Community is so valuable in helping people through their suffering. Those who suffer are not a burden when they ask for help. In fact, grace is unleashed when we ask for help from others. The greatest of gifts are then opened and the corporal and spiritual works of mercy are an instrumental part of this. Essentially, we encounter Christ in one another.

Today Cardinal Sarah talks about how in the presence of God, everything disappears, that nothing compares to the silence of Heaven. When he says silence of Heaven, I see this to mean the Heaven that God created in my heart. Where he and I meet daily, hopefully more than once a day, to exchange joys and sorrows. Heaven, to me is anywhere where God is present. It can be in nature, it can be in our l...

Jesus worked many miracles through His ministry while here on earth. He continues to do the same today. However, it will always remain a mystery as to why God chooses to heal some people in this time and others He does not. We are ultimately all healed through the death and resurrection of Jesus who is our hope. While we may not always receive that one big miracle, there are many smaller miracles...

Today Cardinal Sarah talks about the fact that silence nourishes the heart. When I think of nourishment I think about sustenance and being sustained. Often when were hear sustenance we think about food but here the food that Cardinal Sarah is talking about is the love of God. As we mentioned yesterday, it renders us speechless because speech is not required. Cardinal Sarah goes as far as to say th...

It may be hard to imagine that suffering can be beautiful. Even more so, there is an intimacy that can be found as we unite our sufferings with those of Christ. AJ and Deacon Dave share stories that exemplify this point. Often, suffering does not look beautiful, but just like God, we must look into the heart of the person. When we do, we are able to enter into the sufferings of others.

Today I hear Cardinal Sarah talk about how when we advance in the mysteries of God the more, we tend to lose our speech, we become mute. Because in this intimate relationship no words are required. Cardinal Sarah goes on to say that we disappear in this greatest of silence. This is very true for me; I have become so comfortable in sitting in silence with him that I lose tract of time. This type of...

Joy is the permanent disposition of a disciple of Jesus. In this episode, we distinguish the difference between happiness and joy. Suffering and joy may seem like a contradiction being said in the same sentence. But on the cross, Jesus found great joy in dying on the cross for our salvation. We can also find joy in the midst of our suffering.

In this paragraph Cardinal Sarah quotes St. Augustine “All voice must decrease in the measure that one advances in the knowledge of Christ.” And the scripture passage from John 3:30 immediately came to mind: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Said by St. John the Baptist. This does not mean that we as a person lose our value to God and that we lose our identity. It is the opposite. As we put...

Healing is something we all hope for when we have a suffering, and this is always a possibility. Ultimately, God wants to heal our souls which are at the very center of where God resides. In this episode, we talk about the mystery of healing and how God's divine providence and will may not always lead to a healing.

In today’s reading Cardinal Sarah talks about spiritual faculties, and he refers to St. John of the Cross. St. John of the Cross defines faculties as: Faculties of the soul are merely qualities or properties, modes through which the soul acts. Faculties explain well the changes of consciousness, the essentially different kinds of consciousness, and the variations in capacities or powers, all proce...

Jesus leaves the garden. Although He is taken away (arrested), He went willingly. He conformed His will to God because it was necessary for our salvation. We can do the same. We can conform our will to God and leave the Garden to willingly take up our crosses. Crosses that are made lighter by Jesus becoming human, suffering for us and showing us how to suffering for ourselves and others. The resur...

Today I hear Cardinal Sarah say love talks about burnt offerings and about meek, humble, and silent love. The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord comes to mind, no one has ever been as meek, humble and self-giving than our Blessed Mother. The three-letter word “Yes” says it all, she then gave everything of herself to care and love God’s Son. I could only dream of having an ounce of that self...

Faith is the belief of things unseen. Our faith teaches us that suffering has great power as demonstrated by the cross of Christ. It is easy to doubt when suffering becomes a part of our human experience. It is exactly in this suffering that our faith can grow to greater depths. It can also be an instrument by which others can grow in their faith as well.