ConSOLation of tHE lepor priest

Do you seek the consolations of God or the God of consolations?

I wonder if I'll ever trust God enough to love Him without first receiving consolation.

The great saint, Father Damien, who ministered to a Hawaiian leper colony and eventually contracted and died from the disease, is not known for having ever received miraculous consolations. Every day was an ordinary battle of extraordinary trust. Father Damien did not cure a man of leprosy and God did not cure Father Damien when the good priest fell ill. Father Damien had no visions of the Sacred Heart, no stigmata or ability to read souls, he could not speak in tounges or see his guardian angel or lead a French army to victory. He was an ordinary man who truly gave his life in service to a group of people who were sick, exiled and slowly dying.

Father Damien had such a conviction for the love of Christ and His church that this sustained him. He didn't need the miracles because he had faith enough.

And I think that is the greatest miracle of his life - Father Damien didn't need God to prove anything. The Eucharist and the sacraments were enough for him. I have so much love and repect for this priest who was overwhelmed in the ordinary. What a man. What an example. To only be like Father Damien.

To seek the God of consolations.