Bearing Witness, Suffering with Gratitude

Frank Simmonds is a friend, a fellow traveler in the ecclesiastical movement I follow called Communion and Liberation. He suffers from advanced-stage neuroendocrine cancer.  He continues to bear witness to the One who called each of us, by name, into being. In the photo above, he carries the cross, leading thousands across the Brooklyn Bridge during a Good Friday procession.


In an interview published earlier this year, Frank, the father of two small boys, said: “When you’re aware of who you are, that you belong to God, that you’re His, everything changes. God is the Lord of my life, not cancer. I belong to Him, not to this disease.”

...,I understand now that my life is a gift and that it is a road. I used to hate my life; all I wanted to do was escape it. Now I understand it’s given to walk through because it leads to the Infinite. The only option for me is this walk. I am grateful for all the suffering, as it has a reason.”

His wife, Rita, posted this video on youtube with the remark  "He asks not to be pitied, but to be accompanied." This is a wonderful witness.