Table of Contents
A Monk's Tale xiii
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction 1
Part I Complaints and Their Causes
1 Lamentability 7
2 Complaints Are Common 9
3 We Complain 11
4 Both/And 13
5 Normal People 15
6 Oops! 17
7 Learned Behavior 19
8 Ease, If You Please 21
9 My Genes Are Too Tight 23
10 Compliance 25
11 Porcupines 27
Part II Complaints of Some Saints
12 Definition of a Saint (Saints and Aints) 31
13 Why Pray to the Saints? 33
14 Guess Who Complained 35
15 Jesus, Too! 39
16 Standards 41
17 Holy Equality 43
18 Contemporary Complaints 45
19 First Love 47
20 Three Ts 49
21 La Madre Says 51
22 Lisieux 53
23 Saint Thérèse and the Rosary Banger 55
24 Poorest of the Poor 59
25 Patron Saint of Complainers 61
26 How Paul Did It 65
27 Leper Priest 67
28 Brother Leo's Complaint 71
29 Divine Mercy 73
30 Domestic Holiness 75
31 Saintly Doppelganger 77
32 There's Nothing to Do! 79
33 What a Disappointment 81
34 Why Am I So Unlovable? 83
35 Blown Call 85
36 Holy Mountain 87
37 Moving Men 91
38 Thanks for Asking, Saint Gertrude 93
39 Dear Diary 97
40 "Since Thou Dost Love" 99
Part III Complaints from the Holy Book
41 Red Flags 105
42 Too Heavy for Me 107
43 Complaining Prophet 109
44 Where Were You? 111
45 Complaint Inside a Complaint 113
46 Two Men Walk Into 115
47 Front for Faults 117
48 Trashing 119
49 More Trashing 121
50 In the Beginning 123
Part IV Learning from the Saints How to Handle Complaining
51 Look the Part 127
52 My Sainted "Other" 129
53 Statuesque 131
54 Truth Be Told 133
55 Wishing Well 135
56 Terrible News 137
57 Imperfect Perfection 139
58 Perfect Imperfection 141
59 Facial Recognition 143
60 Life Vision 145
61 Two Who Could Have 147
62 Alberione's Advice 149
63 Little Conversations 151
64 Super-Duper Hero 153
65 Saints and Complaints 155
66 Daily Challenge 157
Characteristics of Charity 159
I Charity is patient 160
II Charity is kind 161
III Charity does not envy 162
IV Love is not pretentious 163
V Love is not puffed up 164
VI Love is not ambitious 165
VII Love is not self-seeking 165
VIII Charity is not provoked 166
IX Charity thinks no evil 168
X Charity doesn't rejoice over wickedness (injustice) 169
XI Charity rejoices with the truth 170
XII Charity bears all things 171
XIII Charity believes all 172
XIV Charity hopes all things 173
XV Charity endures all things 174
XVI Reading from First Corinthians 175
Postscript 179
Notes 181
