"Unless a grain of wheat falls...and dies" (John 12).

From "In conversation with God," Fr Francis Fernandez", reflecting on Matt 11.

"We should lose our fear of sacrifice...for it is a loving Father, who knows what is best for us, who wishes the Cross for us. He always wants the best for us. Close to Christ, tribulations and difficulties are not oppressive, they are not burdensome; on the contrary, they dispose the soul to prayer, to see God in the events of daily life. Through sacrifice we raise ourselves up to the Lord; without it we remain at ground level. With voluntary sacrifice, with sorrow offered and borne patiently and with love, we unite ourselves firmly to the Lord.  It is 'as though He were to say: All you going about tormented, afflicted, and weighed down by your cares and appetites, think nothing of them; come to Me and I will refresh you; and you will find a rest for your souls that your preoccupation with your troubles takes away from you (St John of the Cross).'"