When we are dealing with problems (big or small), the thing we most need–and the last thing we want–is some perspective. It’s easy to be overcome by the troubles we’re experiencing, the suffering we’re undergoing; it’s easy to let that suffering rob us of our joy.
Mary Lou Rosien wrote The Joy-Filled Broken Heart to help us find “insight into how our attitudes can affect our ability to handle pain.” This small volume is just what we need when we’re on the edge of despair. It’s not complicated or hard to understand. It’s written simply by a woman who speaks from her own experience and shares the stories of how she and others found peace in times of suffering.
Gary Zimak observes in the Foreword,
The Joy-Filled Broken Heart serves as a great reminder that God is greater than our problems. He is so great, in fact, that He doesn’t have to remove those problems in order to fill us with His peace.
If you’ve ever let the feelings of anger or envy take hold of you when you’re dealing with problems, if you lose all focus on everything else but your problems, or if you blame others for your troubles and push them away (and who doesn’t do at least one of these things?) this book is for you. Mary Lou Rosien offers compassionate, concrete advice for untying the knots of our emotions.
Keep your journal handy when you read this book; it includes questions for reflection in each chapter and ends with quotes from Scripture and the saints for meditation and comfort.
Barb Szyszkiewicz is a wife, mom of 3 young adults, and a Secular Franciscan. She is editor at CatholicMom.com. Barb enjoys writing, cooking, and reading, and is a music minister at her parish and an avid Notre Dame football and basketball fan. Find her blog at FranciscanMom and her family’s favorite recipes with nutrition information for diabetics at Cook and Count. Her booklet, The Handy Little Guide to Prayer, is available from Our Sunday Visitor.