You speak of pain and of a longing for compensation, for advocates, for miracles. These bodily afflictions are real, and weariness settles deep when the burden of injustice seems endless. Yet I must ask you: where is the true injury? For the injury from another, the fall, the wrong, does not harm the soul unless we let it. If you have been wronged, you have received an opportunity for the greatest benefit, if you endure it nobly. The one who did wrong, on the other hand, has done a greater evil to himself than any he could do to you. Do not think that because they seem to escape, they are unpunished; the sword they thrust is into their own hearts, while you, if you bear it with thanksgiving, are crowned and proclaimed blessed by God.
You urge that they take your case, that you get mighty compensation, and you say time is short. But what compensation can compare with the reward of heaven? Our Lord did not teach us to fight for every earthly right, but to pray for those who despitefully use us. When you not only refrain from cursing or retaliation, but actually pray for them, you become like God. Nothing delights Him more. So rather than ask Him to grant you compensation, ask Him to save them, as you have indeed done, for you said, "Save them please Jesus." Hold fast to that prayer, and let it be without any remaining bitterness. For if you pray for their salvation while inwardly desiring their earthly downfall, your prayer is divided. Lay the whole matter into His hands.
You call for advocates to fight this. The greatest Advocate is already yours, if you will commit your cause to Him. But remember, His victory does not always look like an earthly court’s ruling. He permitted Joseph’s brothers to sell him into slavery, yet from that very injury He raised Joseph to save nations. The same God sees your affliction. Do not then accuse others, but accuse your own sins; do not whet your tongue against them, but against your own failings. For the more you are troubled and seek to avenge, the more you injure yourself, while they, if unrepentant, are piling up fire for themselves.
Let your pain of body become a teacher of patience. A long-suffering soul is like a deep sea: whatever unexpected thing falls into it, it is quenched and vanishes, disturbing nothing. Do not point to those who grow worse when they suffer no immediate penalty, for that ruin comes from their own abuse of God’s forbearance, not from patience itself. Be you among those softer ones who gain great benefit from enduring.
Therefore, cease from weariness over their escape. God has not forgotten. In truth, when you are wronged and do not return evil, you become the procurer of greater blessing for yourself, and if you pray for them, you heap coals of divine love upon their heads, perhaps to melt them. You have asked for miracles. A heart that forgives fully, that blesses when cursed, that seeks no earthly retribution, that is the miracle Christ works in those who take up their cross. So do not lose time in bitter pleading for past due compensation, but gain eternity by offering your suffering as a sweet-smelling sacrifice of praise. Pray still: “Save them, Lord,” and mean it from the soul. Then you shall find your own healing, even if the shoulder and knee remain painful, for the inner man is renewed day by day.