{"id":1978,"date":"2016-02-22T20:40:37","date_gmt":"2016-02-22T20:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1978"},"modified":"2016-02-20T20:50:25","modified_gmt":"2016-02-20T20:50:25","slug":"chronic-illness-the-honor-of-lent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2016\/02\/chronic-illness-the-honor-of-lent.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness: The Honor of Lent"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Second<\/a>Living with a chronic illness is one of the most profound ways to walk closely with Jesus Christ. During Lent, when we contemplate our lives and this season of turning back to the Lord, it is fitting to think of the pain and other health challenges we endure as further proof of the honor we have to live as we do. Those who do not bear this burden might look upon us with pity, think we are “out of touch” with the world, or even wish to marginalize us. But we know better, and we are better.<\/p>\n

As children of God, we have a purpose. As people with health problems that color our every waking (and sometimes sleeping) moment, we have experience that can inform our sense of that purpose and, if we allow it to, draw us ever closer to Christ crucified – and the promise fulfilled of the Resurrection.<\/p>\n

Yes, at any moment God can relieve us of our illness, cure us of our affliction. But if we wait around for that to happen, we are missing the shining jewel of a gift that is here, now. It is the gift of a journey like no other, and it is the gift of an honor and privilege – to endure pain, to lift it up to heaven, and to feel, in return, incredible, deep love from One who knows.<\/p>\n

This Lent, live as if your life is a a very precious honor.<\/p>\n

Because it is.<\/p>\n

Peace,<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Living with a chronic illness is one of the most profound ways to walk closely with Jesus Christ. During Lent, when we contemplate our lives and this season of turning back to the Lord, it is fitting to think of the pain and other health challenges we endure as further proof of the honor we…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,360,43,4,1047,578,379,1420,1245],"tags":[1535,2053,744,2051,2052],"class_list":["post-1978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-determination","category-encouragement-in-life","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-good","category-goodness","category-lupus-2","category-pain-2","category-positive","tag-chronic-illness-and-lent","tag-jesus-and-lent","tag-life-with-illness","tag-the-honor-of-lent","tag-walking-with-jesus"],"yoast_head":"\nChronic Illness: The Honor of Lent - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How do you live Lent?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2016\/02\/chronic-illness-the-honor-of-lent.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronic Illness: The Honor of Lent - 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She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1978"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1979,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1978\/revisions\/1979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}