I found a tiny chapel on a hike yesterday. It’s more like a little church designed for children, so I look like a giant next to it. 
Nearly every time we are physically sick, we pray and pray for the ailment to leave us. Nobody wants to stay suffering through cancer, the flu, bodily injuries, or the like.
There are, of course, those that are hypochondriacs and like the attention physical sickness brings, but for the most part people want it gone.
For one, it can be physically hard to bear and, for two, it reminds us of our mortality. Death can be scary on many levels.
When it comes to emotional pain, we often are a bit reluctant to heal from it. I saw this time and again when I was counseling. People just refused to do the hard work of healing, usually for two reasons
Emotional pain is the outcome of being hurt by another or our own poor choices. Many people don’t want to do the work of healing because 1. Victimhood allows you to blame another for the current state of your life and 2. We don’t want to face the poor choices we’ve made and take responsibility.
A life spent continually wallowing in emotional pain and using it as a crutch is a life being wasted. We must not want to be defined by the bad things that have happened to us.
Bad things happen to all of us, Catholic Pilgrims, and we must strive to invite Christ into emotional pain so that He can give us courage to face what needs to be faced and provide healing. It truly is possible.
Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Monday.
