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Leslie's Page BE NOT AFRAID!!!
"Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer." Romans 12:12
"In Him who is the source of my strength I have strength for everything." Phillipians 4:13
"Cancer doesn't turn your life upside down. It turns it right side up." Jack Smith
"I don't know what my future holds but I know who holds my future." Fr. Jim Willig
Journal
Monday, March 28, 2005 3:46 PM CST March 28, 2005
Easter Monday
“The Lord has risen from the dead, as He had foretold. Let there be happiness and rejoicing, for He is our King forever, alleluia!” Entrance antiphon
“True joy does not depend on mere physical or material wellbeing, is not diminished by the presence of difficulties, by the absence of health…Deep joy originates in Christ, in the love that God has had for us and in our correspondence with this love. The Lord’s promise is fulfilled today: I will give you a joy which no one will take away from you. (John 16:22) Nobody can. Nor can pain take it away, nor calumny, nor abandonment…nor even weaknesses and falls, if we turn promptly to the Lord. This is the sole condition of our remaining in it: not to separate ourselves from God, not to allow things to divide us from him; to know at all times that we are his sons and daughters.” In Conversation with God, Francis Fernandez, Vol. 2, p. 300.
It is odd for me to write the above because I struggle with sadness and depression, but I also have known great joy in my life and have learned to have confidence in the dark times that I will find my way back to the Light, Jesus, the source of all my true joy.
Today I had a routine follow-up CAT Scan and Wednesday I will have PET Scan, reminding me that however normal things seem, they never will be the way they were before Lent 2004. Please pray that the scans show no return of the lymphoma (there is no reason to think it would be otherwise.)
I would like to invite all the females in the Cincinnati area to join me at the Presentation Ministries Mother’s Retreat on Saturday, April 16, from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. at the Paul Jansen Discipleship Retreat Center. It is for all women because we are all called to be spiritual mothers, whether or not we are physical mothers. I will be one of 4 women speaking on the beautiful apostolic letter, Salvifici Doloris, On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering, by our precious Holy Father Pope John Paul II. The day promises to be joy-filled because as JP II tells us, “…joy comes from the discovery of the meaning of suffering…” (SD 1 ) We all suffer at some point in our lives, but is it redemptive suffering? Let’s come together to study, to pray, to worship, to help each other to use our sufferings for good, and to experience the joy St. Paul wrote of, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake.” Col. 1:24 Through our pain, with Mary ay our side, we can draw closer to her Son, the source of our joy.
I eagerly look forward to spending the day with you but if you are unable to attend please help me with your prayers. Ask that God will give me the words He wishes spoken to the women. Thank you and have a blessed Easter season.
P.S. - (937) 205-0128 - Call to Register for retreat!
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