S2 E3: The (Human) Struggle is Real

Transcript

Carol Vassar:

From SS. Isidore and Maria Parish in Glastonbury, Connecticut, I'm Carol Vassar, and this is Living in Faith, Hope, and Love. Each week, our Pastor, Father Mark Suslenko, delves into Scripture, shares insights from the saints, prophets, and theologians, and discusses practical ways to cultivate faith, strengthen hope, and embody love in the world around us. Through his reflections and spiritual encouragement, this podcast aims to inspire you to live your Catholic faith with joy and purpose. Welcome. 

Life has a way of leading us into places we never expected—moments marked by loss, uncertainty, fear, or profound change. In those seasons, we can feel unsettled, lonely, even brought to our knees, wondering how we will move forward or where God might be in the midst of it all.

In today’s episode, Father Mark reflects on these “desert moments” of our lives—the dark and desolate places we cannot avoid and cannot bypass, but must walk through. He invites us to consider what it truly means to persevere in faith

Here’s Father Mark.

“The (Human) Struggle is Real,” by Father Mark S. Suslenko, Pastor, SS. Isidore and Maria Parish, Glastonbury, Connecticut

Father Mark Suslenko:

Life can easily bring us to very dark and desolate places. Maybe we're experiencing a tremendous amount of change all at once. Maybe we're suffering some kind of loss.

There are many human experiences that can thrust us into a desert, rattle us to the core, and unsettle us. These dark and very desolate places of our lives can be very confusing, very lonely, very anxious, and very fearful. We can find ourselves brought to our knees, wondering how we are going to get through the day and what the future may be.

In these dark and desolate places of the desert, we must walk.

If you haven't had the experience of being in a dark and desolate place. I assure you, before your human life is over, you will encounter exactly that of which I speak. There's no way getting around it. Human beings must struggle with life.

In the back of our minds, we hear God saying through sacred Scripture, "Be strong and fear not." Yet as we're journeying through these often dark and desolate places, those words can bring very little consolation and can almost disturb us more than console us. We wonder how we're going to find the strength and how we're going to overcome the fear and the anxiety.

Will God take the loneliness away? Will God relieve my anxiety? Will God make all things better again?

And so we reach for ways to walk through these desert experiences of our lives. But one thing is for certain: the only way through a desert is to walk through it. You can't hop, skip, and jump over the darkness and the destination. You can't run to safety and you find yourself often in very parched and waterless lands. You find yourself in a place of true isolation, with one day to the next of trying to move forward and get to the other side.

As we journey through these desert experiences, we don't need words of empty consolation. What we need are companions who can accompany us on these difficult journeys to listen to our loneliness, to comfort us in our despair, to lighten the load, if only just a little bit.

And then our faith kicks in.

We hear God promise, "You will get to the other side. You will find your way through. Trust in me. I am your Savior."

As we journey through this desert, we listen to God's voice beckoning us and calling us to persevere, to remain strong, to cling to faith, harbor in hope and embrace love. These difficult desert experiences must be endured, and they are difficult indeed, but they teach us very valuable lessons, not only about who we are, but what faith really means.

As we journey through each day of darkness, faith can lighten our path, hope can allow us to persevere, and love can be a reason for continuing. We may not see or know the full extent of what is on the other side. We may not find the consolation and the refreshment and the peace that we are looking for at the moment, but if we do endure and if we do remain strong, God will make all things right, and God will be at the other end as Savior to welcome us to our new place.

Do you really believe that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world? Do you really believe Jesus Christ can lead you through all the events that life brings to you?

Carol Vassar:

Father Mark Suslenko is the pastor of SS. Isidore and Maria Parish in Glastonbury, Connecticut. If you like what you've heard today, please subscribe to Living in Faith, Hope, and Love on your favorite podcast app and take a moment to leave a review.

SS. Isidore and Maria is an active parish community, so whether you’re a long-time parishioner or are just getting to know us through this podcast, we welcome you to join us at Masses or any of our other community events and services. Visit our parish website - isidoreandmaria.org - for a full schedule of Masses, services and other happenings. That's isidoreandmaria.org. We're also active on Facebook and Instagram.

On behalf of Father Mark, I'm Carol Vassar, and we thank you for listening to this episode of Living in Faith, Hope, and Love.