From Living Faith Daily Catholic Devotions (Jan/Feb/Mar 2026)

Sts. Perpetua and Felicity

Micah 7:14-15, 18-20 + Psalm 103:1-4, 9-12 + Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Offering Up Suffering

…He heals all your ills.  Psalm 103:3

If God heals all my ills, as it says in Psalm 103, then why do I sometimes feel so bad? The martyred St. Felicity provides perspective. Two days before she was to be thrown to wild beasts, Felicity went into labour. the guards taunted her for crying out when what waited for her was far worse. “But it’s ne who is suffering now,” she said. “And in the arena, another will be in me. He will suffer for me because I will be suffering for him.

All suffering hurts, whether it comes from outside or is self-imposed due to sin. And still Jesus is with us! With kindness and compassion, he takes our suffering on himself. It is a mystery how that can be true even while we suffer. But when we offer that suffering to him, it is as mysteriously lifted and shared.

Lord, I offer this up to you! Help me remember the Cross you bore for me, so I might better carry mine.

□ Sarah Christmyer