You're listening to Catholic Sprouse, the daily podcast for Catholic kids that strives to plant seeds of faith.

Hey there, Sprouse. Today is Tuesday, August 24th, 2021. Now this week we are talking about the eighth and final beatitude, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Yesterday, through the example of St. Rose of Lima, we saw that each and every saint in our Catholic faith has endured some level of suffering out of love for Jesus, and yet they did so with joy.

It was an honor, even, to be rejected by the world sometimes because they knew that they were honored by God, and they were happy.

And this is our goal, of course, to be happy, even when we suffer in the world because God

values our suffering.

Now, today we're going to talk about a difficult concept, but I hope you can reflect on it

and maybe grow in holiness in this way just a little bit.

What we're talking about is the gift of the cross.

And by this, I mean that suffering can be a gift. Now, before we

dig into that, I want you to know that there have been many saints in the history of the church

who have prayed for suffering, who have asked God for suffering.

And God has granted this, has given them the gift of suffering.

There are many that ask God for the mystical wounds to share in Christ's wounds, where they

bled and suffered and felt all the pains that he felt as he died.

Others asked for physical illness so that they might share in Christ suffering.

Others received suffering in terms of persecution or even martyrdom.

Now, why? Why would a saint who was so close to Jesus

ask for suffering? Well, the truth is that when we suffer, we become closer to Christ,

when we suffer in the right way. In fact, Mother Teresa said that when we suffer, we are so

close to Christ that it is as if he leans down from the cross and kisses us. Sharing and suffering

helps us let go of the things that don't matter and cling better to Jesus.

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