A Shepherd’s Voice! Bishop Joseph Strickland: It Is Well With My Soul

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Welcome to another episode of “A Shepherd’s Voice.” Today’s episode is titled: “It is Well with My Soul.” A phrase many of us know from a hymn, but far more than a melody – it is a spiritual declaration, an anchor in the storm, a torch in the night. In this age of affliction – whether personal suffering, family heartbreak, or the dark clouds that gather over the Church – it is here, in the pierced Heart of Christ, that we learn to say, not with ease, but with faith: “It is well with my soul.”

But before we speak of peace, we must acknowledge this – life is not a gentle stream – it is often a storm. We are not promised comfort, but the Cross. We live in a world where souls are burdened by grief, betrayal, illness, and fear. And so, the question is not whether suffering will come – it will – but whether our hearts will be anchored when it does. Can we say with the saints, not why, but Thy will be done.

Let us look at Job’s answer to suffering:

“… if we have received good things at the hand of God, why should we not receive evil? In all these things Job did not sin with his lips” (Job 2:10).

This was Job’s answer to loss, to the mystery of grief. Job lost everything but did not curse God. He mourned, he questioned, he suffered. But his soul clung to the Divine Will.

St. Francis de Sales, doctor of the Church, once said:

“Do not look forward in fear to the changes of life: rather look to them with full hope that, as they arise, God, whose very own you are, will lead you safely through all things. …Do not fear what may happen tomorrow; the same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you then and every day.”

What peace is this, that allows the soul to be still in sorrow, to trust when the heavens are silent? This is not optimism. It is not sentiment. It is the stability of a soul united to the Cross.

As Our Lord Himself said:

“Peace I leave with you: my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

Notice – not as the world giveth. The world’s peace is shallow. It flees in trial. Christ’s peace remains in the fire.

St. Augustine wrote,

“You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

We cannot find rest anywhere but in God. Not in ease, not in health, not even in consolations. Our rest is in His Holy Will – because He is good, and His will is love, even when it cuts.

Let me read to you from the prophet Isaias:

“ … Thou wilt keep peace: peace, because we have hoped in thee. You have hoped in the Lord for evermore: in the Lord God mighty for ever” (Isaias 26:3-4).

Peace comes from hope. Not in a vague future, but in Him who holds the future.

If we unite our suffering to His, it becomes redemptive; it becomes fruitful. It becomes … well with our soul.

St. Paul writes:

“For which cause I please myself in my infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ. For when I am weak, then am I powerful” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

There is something paradoxical here, but true. The Cross breaks what is earthly, but it strengthens what is eternal. Our soul becomes more conformed to Christ. This is the great mystery of redemptive suffering.

And let us not forget Our Lady, who stood at the foot of the Cross. Simeon told her:

“And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed” (Luke 2:35).

Mary did not run from suffering – she entered into it, for love of her Son. And so she shows us: it is well with the soul that is pierced but united in Christ.

Pope St. Pius X wrote:

“The greatest obstacle in the apostolate of the Church is the timidity or rather the cowardice of the faithful.”

We must not flee from trial, from the world’s disapproval, from persecution. The world is growing darker. But if we stay in Christ, it is well. It is very well.

Let us listen again to Scripture, from Romans 8:

“Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? Or distress? Or famine? Or nakedness? Or danger? Or persecution? Or the sword? … But in all these things we overcome, because of him that hath loved us.”

“For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor might, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35, 37-39).

We must remember: peace is not the absence of sorrow. It is the presence of Christ.

St. Teresa of Avila once said:

“Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you, all things are passing away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices.”

This is the peace that anchors us when our family suffers, when a child is ill, when we bury the ones we love, when the Church is battered from within. This is the peace that says, “Though I do not understand, I trust You.”

From the Psalms:

“The Lord ruleth me: and I shall want nothing. He hath set me in a place of pasture. He hath brought me up, on the water of refreshment. He hath converted my soul. He hath led me on the paths of justice, for his own name’s sake. For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me” (Psalm 22:1-4).

This is the shepherd’s voice. This is the comfort of the soul. This is why, in every moment, we can say: It is well.

Not because we are strong, but because He is.

Not because life is easy, but because eternity is near.

Let us listen to the words of Our Lord in St. Matthew’s Gospel:

“Come to me, all you that labour, and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart: and you shall find rest to your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29).

Friends, we walk through storms. But we do not walk alone. We walk with the One who commands the winds and the sea.

Let your soul anchor in Him.

Say it not because life is easy – but because God is faithful: It is well with my soul.

But let us not merely speak these words – we must live them.

To live the truth that it is well with our soul means surrendering daily, offering our wounds to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and allowing Him to transform them into fountains of grace.

Let us embrace that silence where the Lord speaks peace – not the peace of escape, but the peace of union.

We must practice this peace. We must pray with it, carry it, speak it into the lives of others. It becomes a witness. And the world, aching and restless, will look upon us and wonder, “What is this peace that holds them fast?”

The answer is Christ.

He is our calm in the tempest, our fire in the cold, our stillness in the storm.

And so I leave you with this, from the words of the Psalmist:

“Be still and see that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of armies is with us: the God of Jacob is our protector” (Psalm 45:11-12).

No matter what comes – be still. He is God.

And if He is with you – then truly, even now, It is well with your soul.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

SOURCE >>>>>>>>>>>>>