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Dear Ms. Brown: I am not certain that this comes exactly within the category of a
pro-life issue, but I thought that you may have some insights. I have been afflicted with cerebral palsy since birth, which has left
me wheelchair-bound and unable to do personal care activities for
myself. After nearly 30 years of struggling through life with this
condition, I have become extremely mentally weary. I feel that I
have lost all will and strength to carry on. I have prayed to the Lord
that He have pity on me and take me away from this world. I went to confession this past Saturday to ask forgiveness for my
sins and help in dealing with despair. The priest was very good and
I did feel better after confession. However, it seems like the Lord
keeps presenting me with more challenges, and I don't feel strong
enough to handle them. I have a loving family that wants to help me, but I feel that the Lord
has given me a burden that I can no longer bear. I know that all
people are precious to God, but the my suffering is becoming too
difficult. Any thoughts that you may have would be greatly
appreciated. |
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Answer by Judie Brown on 12/10/2012: | ||||||||
Dear Vincent First of all I feel very strongly that you are being tested at this
moment, in much
the same way the Lord tested JOB in the Bible. I have a dear friend
who is and has
been wheel-chair bound for some years now with multiple sclerosis
and his
battles with the demon of despair occur frequently, just as they do
with you. But he has a faith that guides him to surrender his sufferings to the
Lord when
they become overwhelming and so far his attitude about that
aspect of his life has
served him well. His name is Mark Pickup and he writes for a Catholic newspaper
and Canada and
he has his own BLOG which is always inspiring to read. For
example he recently
wrote CHRIST IN OUR SUFFERING
http://markpickup.org/2012/10/christ-in-our-
suffering.html and said My journey would take me into the fire of a terrible fire of disease,
but God would
abide with me ― like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego I would
not be alone in
my fire of disease.[11] And as with Job, my flesh is being destroyed
but my life
has been spared.[12] I went from being a healthy and athletic man to what you see
today. At about the
2-3 year point in my downhill slide with MS, my grief was so
profound and
unimaginable, my sorrow so deep, my heartache so sharp, that my
judgment was
clouded. If assisted suicide had been available in the mid-1980s,
and if I not had
been enveloped in the love of God and my wife, LaRee, I may have
taken my life,
at a low point. I am so glad now that did not happen. I needed to
safely grieve
with the freedom to cry out, and not be helped with a death wish I
might have
expressed at my lowest point. VINCENT, I am praying for you and pray also that you will
communicate with Mark
and learn from his own pain. Judie Brown
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