"When Another’s Suffering Becomes Our Prayer" Artwork

"Your Faith Anew!"

Your Faith Anew! exists to help souls grow in their knowledge of the Catholic Faith, strive to remain in a state of grace, and encounter the transforming joy of the Gospel. Its mission is simple yet eternal: to save souls, glorify God, and become saints.

Hosted by David Russell, this daily reflection podcast draws deeply from Sacred Scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the writings of the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta—especially The Book of Heaven—guiding listeners into a deeper understanding of living in the Divine Will.

David is the author of four spiritually rich works: Magi Theology: The Essence of Illusion, The Little Magician – Discovers Bigger and Better, Our Pilgrimage with the Pilgrim Virgin, and his newest release, Our Mother in the Divine Will. With a lifelong fascination for the mystical, David discovered a profound connection between the art of illusion and deeper spiritual realities—an insight that inspired both his theological and children’s writings. His work Magi Theology received both the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur from the Diocese of Knoxville.

In 2010, David was introduced to the writings of Luisa Piccarreta, which deeply resonated with his own spiritual insights. This encounter helped shape the foundation of his ministry.

In 2017, he founded the Your Faith Anew! prayer and study group to help Catholics rediscover and fall in love with their Faith. At the heart of his message is this conviction:

“The Catholic Faith prepares us to receive the Gift of Living in the Divine Will—and this Gift enables us to live our Faith in a divine manner most pleasing to God.”

Join us daily as we seek not only to understand our Faith—but to live it fully, joyfully, and in union with the Divine Will.

Song: Buddy Comfort - vocals and guitar from the album, "Brother Sun, Sister Moon", www.buddycomfort.com

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"Your Faith Anew!"

"When Another’s Suffering Becomes Our Prayer"

October 04, 2026 • David Russell

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October 4, 1900 – Volume 4

Luisa writes,

After going through a day of privation and of scarce suffering, I felt convinced that the Lord no longer wanted to keep me in this state. However, obedience does not want to yield to me, in this either, and she wants me to continue to stay, should I even croak and snuff out. May the Lord be always blessed, and may His holy and lovable Will be done in everything.

Then, this morning, on coming, blessed Jesus made Himself seen in a pitiful state; He seemed to be suffering within His members, and His body was being torn into so many pieces that it was impossible to count them. With plaintive voice, He was saying: “My daughter, what I feel! What I feel! These are unspeakable pains and incomprehensible to the human nature. It is the flesh of my children being lacerated, and the pain I feel is such that I feel my own flesh being lacerated.” And while saying this, He moaned and grieved.

I felt moved in seeing Him in this state, and I did as much as I could to compassionate Him and pray Him to share His pains with me. He contented me in part, and I could just say to Him: ‘Ah, Lord, did I not tell You: “Do not lay hand to chastisements, for what grieves me the most is that You Yourself will be struck in your own members!” Ah, this time there has been no way nor prayers to placate You.’ But Jesus did not pay attention to my words; He seemed to have something serious in His Heart which pulled Him somewhere else, and in one instant He transported me outside of myself, taking me to the places where bloody slaughters were happening. Oh, how many sorrowful scenes could be seen in the world! How much human flesh tormented, torn to pieces, trampled upon as one tramples the earth, and left unburied. How many tragedies, how many miseries! And what is more, more terrible ones are to happen! Blessed Jesus looked and, all moved, began to cry bitterly. Unable to refrain, I cried with Him over the sad condition of the world; so much so, that my tears mixed with those of Jesus.

After crying for quite a while, I admired another trait of the goodness of Our Lord. In order to make me stop crying, He turned His face away from me, He dried His tears hiddenly, and then, turning back again, with a cheerful face said to me: “My beloved, do not cry – enough, enough; what you see serves to Iustificare Iustitiam Meam [Justify My Justice].” And I: ‘Ah, Lord, then I am right to say that my state is no longer your Will! Why my state of victim, if it is not given to me to spare your so very dear members, and to exempt the world from so many chastisements?’ And He: “It is not as you say. I too was victim, but even though I was victim, it was not given to Me to spare the world all chastisements. I opened Heaven for it, I released it from sin, yes; I carried its pains upon Myself, but it is Justice that man receive upon himself part of those chastisements which he himself draws upon himself by sinning. And if it were not for the victims, he would deserve not only the simple chastisement – that is, the destruction of his body – but also the loss of his soul. So, here is the necessity of the victims: whoever wants to avail himself of them – because man is always free in his will – can find the sparing of his pain and the port of his salvation.” And I: ‘Ah, Lord, how I would like to come before these chastisements advance more!’ And He: “If the world reaches such wickedness as to deserve no victim, surely I will take you.”

On hearing this, I said: ‘Lord, do not permit that I remain here, present at such sorrowful scenes.’ And Jesus, almost reproaching me, added: “Instead of praying Me to spare, you say you want to come. If I were to take with Me all of my own of the poor world, what would happen? Indeed I would have nothing to do with it any more, and I would no longer have any regard.” After this, I prayed for various people; He disappeared from me, and I returned inside myself.

– Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta

Buddy Comfort – vocals and guitar from the album Brother Sun, Sister Moon, www.buddycomfort.com, words and music by Donovan Leitch.

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Welcome, this is David Russell and Your Faith Anew, Daily Reflections Guiding You to Live in the Divine Will. Today's reflection is from the Book of Heaven by the servant of God Louisa Picaretta, october fourth, nineteen hundred, volume four. Let us begin in the will and name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Jesus, open our hearts to love as you love. Free us from the small circle of our own concerns, and give us hearts attentive to those who suffer. Draw us so deeply into your will that our prayer may become an offering of love for every soul you place before you. Amen. A reading from the first letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians, chapter twelve, verses twenty four through twenty six. But God has so constructed the body as to give greater honor to a part that is without it, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same concern for one another. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it. If one part is honored, all the parts share its joy. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches in paragraph nine fifty three Communion in charity. In the Sanctorum Communio, none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it. Charity does not insist on its own way. In this solidarity with all men, living or dead, which is founded on the communion of saints, the least of our acts done in charity rebounds to the profit of all. Every sin harms this communion. Let us enter today's reading with a heart willing to discover how closely Christ binds us to himself and to one another. Louisa writes After going through a day of privation and of scarce suffering, I felt convinced that the Lord no longer wanted to keep me in this state. However, obedience does not want to yield to me in this either, and she wants me to continue to stay, should I even croak and snuff out. May the Lord be always blessed, and may his holy and lovable will be done in everything. Then this morning, on coming, blessed Jesus made himself seen in a pitiful state. He seemed to be suffering within his members, and his body was being torn into so many pieces that it was impossible to count them. With plaintive voice he was saying, My daughter, what I feel what I feel these are unspeakable pains and incomprehensible to the human nature. It is the flesh of my children being lacerated, and the pain I feel is such that I feel my own flesh being lacerated. And while saying this, he moaned and grieved. I felt moved in seeing him in this state, and I did as much as I could to compassionate him and pray him to share his pains with me. He contented me in part, and I could just say to him Ah, Lord, did I not tell you do not lay hand to chastisements, for what grieves me the most is that you yourself will be struck in your own members. Ah, this time there has been no way nor prayers to placate you. But Jesus did not pay attention to my words. He seemed to have something serious in his heart which pulled him somewhere else. And in one instant he transported me outside of myself, taking me to the places where bloody slaughters were happening. Oh how many sorrowful scenes could be seen in the world? How much human flesh tormented, torn to pieces, trampled upon as one tramples the earth and left unburied? How many tragedies, how many miseries? And what is more, more terrible ones are to happen. Blessed Jesus looked and all moved, began to cry bitterly. Unable to refrain, I cried with him over the sad condition of the world, so much so that my tears mixed with those of Jesus. After crying for quite a while, I admired another trait of the goodness of our Lord. In order to make me stop crying, he turned his face away from me. He dried his tears hiddenly, and then, turning back again, with a cheerful face said to me, My beloved, do not cry. Enough enough. What you see serves to justify my justice. And I Ah Lord, then I am right to say that my state is no longer your will. Why my state a victim if it is not given to me to spare your so very dear members and to exempt the world from so many chastisements? And he it is not as you say. I too was victim, but even though I was victim, it was not given to me to spare the world all chastisements. I opened heaven for it, I released it from sin. Yes, I carried its pains upon it myself, but it is justice that man receive upon himself part of those chastisements which he himself draws upon himself by sinning. And if it were not for the victims, he would deserve not only the simple chastisement, that is, the destruction of his body, but also the loss of his soul. So here is the necessity of the victims. Whoever wants to avail himself of them, because man is always free in his will, can find the sparing of his pain and the port of his salvation. And I Ah Lord, how I would like to come before these chastisements advance more and hef the world reaches such wickedness as to deserve no victim, surely I will take you. On hearing this I said, Lord, do not permit that I remain here present at such sorrowful scenes. And Jesus, almost reproaching me, added, Instead of praying me to spare, you say you want to come. If I were to take with me all of my own of the poor world, what would happen? Indeed, I would have nothing to do with it anymore, and I would no longer have any regard. After this, I prayed for various people, he disappeared from me, and I returned inside myself. There is a temptation in the spiritual life to think of holiness as something that happens privately between Jesus and me. My prayer, my conversion, my salvation, my relationship with God. But the closer we come to Christ, the more he enlarges the heart. Saint Paul gives us a remarkable vision of the church. We are members of one body. The suffering of another Christian is, therefore, never completely outside of us. In Christ, another person's sorrow can become an invitation to love. This changes the way we pray. When we hear of war, violence, persecution, disaster, loneliness, or a family falling apart. We may feel helpless. We cannot personally solve every tragedy. We cannot carry every burden. Yet helplessness does not mean uselessness. We can bring that suffering into the presence of Jesus. And when we live in the divine will, our prayer can become even more expansive. We can say Jesus, I unite myself to your love for every person who is suffering today. Love them in me. Pray in me with me and through me. That is very different from simply watching the pain of the world from a distance. Christian compassion is not merely feeling sorry for someone. The word itself points toward suffering with another. And this is what Jesus has done for us. The Son of God did not remain distant from a wounded humanity. He entered our condition, carried our sins, and gave himself for us upon the cross. So perhaps today Jesus is inviting us to give him permission to widen our hearts. There may be someone suffering whom you will never meet, someone frightened tonight, someone grieving alone, someone tempted to despair. You may never know that person's name. Jesus does. This is one of the beautiful possibilities of life in God's will. Our hearts need not remain confined to what we can see, reach, or understand. United to Christ, we can desire what He desires the salvation, healing, holiness, and eternal good of every person. We cannot carry the whole world, but Jesus can, and we can remain with him while he loves it. Let us pray. Jesus, I adore you and place myself within your divine will. Give me a heart that does not turn away from suffering. For those who are afraid, be their peace. For those who mourn, be their consolation. For those wounded by hatred, be their mercy. For those who feel forgotten, let them somehow encounter your love. Take my prayer beyond the limits of what I know and whom I know. Jesus, pray in me with me and through me for every soul in need. May your love flow through my small offering according to your perfect will. And when I cannot change what is happening, teach me simply to remain with you, trusting that no act of love offered in you is ever wasted. Amen. Thank you for joining your faith anew today. Until tomorrow, stay in his will, and your faith will be made anew.