At times the spirit is willing and the flesh weak, but God wants the spirit more than anything else. Cling closer and closer to him, then, with your will, with the highest point of your soul. Always bear in mind as a safe general rule that while God tries us by his crosses and sufferings, he always leaves us a glimmer of light by which we continue to have great trust in him and to recognize his immense goodness. I urge you, therefore, not to be entirely disheartened in the face of the cross…heaven bestows on you, but to continue to have boundless confidence in the divine mercy.
—from the book The Joyful Spirit of Padre Pio: Stories, Letters, and Prayers
