It's easy to think that everyone around us has it better. Very often, though, other people suffer in the same ways, and in similar intensities, that we do. Then there are the times when we come across people who are truly beset with problems that bury them in a pit of despair.
Whether it's a physical, emotional, intellectual, relational, or spiritual issue (and regardless of the fact that it's most often a combination of some or all of the above) it's incumbent upon you as a person and as a Christian, to give comfort when you see someone in pain (to be clear, I am not just talking about those who are homeless).
All it takes is a little less time focusing on yourself and little more time understanding others. But that's not easy. And that's where the saints come in. Through prayer, and their intercession, you can learn how to give of yourself more in the service of helping others heal.
Here's one example of someone who can guide you. Bartholomew the Younger (981-1055), whose Feast Day is November 11 and was known as a hymn-writer, calligrapher, scholar, and the abbot of the Grottaferrata Monastery in Rome, was quite sympathetic and never missed an opportunity to comfort people in their various difficulties.
Like his spiritual father St. Nilus the Younger (who was also born in Rossano and was the founder of the Greek abbey of Grottaferrata), Bartholomew worked to convince Church leaders to reform their lives and sought to build unity between the Roman and Greek Christians in Southern Italy.
Take a few minutes today to ask St. Bartholomew to show you the path of healing so that others may be comforted by God through you.
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