“Jesus is always with you, even when you don’t feel his presence. He is never so close to you as he is during your spiritual battles. He is always there, close to you, encouraging you to fight the good fight; he is there to ward off the enemy’s blows……”

If you really want to love Jesus, first learn to suffer, because suffering teaches you to love.  --St. Gemma Galgani: (1878 – 1903: was an Italian mystic, venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church since 1940.

Gospel Text: (LK 1:57-66)

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child
she gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard
that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,
and they rejoiced with her.
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply,
"No. He will be called John."
But they answered her,
"There is no one among your relatives who has this name."
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name,"
and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.
Then fear came upon all their neighbors,
 and all these matters were discussed
throughout the hill country of Judea.
All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,
"What, then, will this child be?
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him."

Reflect, today, upon any hardship you have endured as a result of your own weakness, sin or lack of faith.  Do not see any hardship as a punishment in the normal sense of that word.  Rather, see it as an opportunity through which God is calling you to give Him even greater glory.