From Sister Applonie's mouth...

Sister Applonie (though she has not yet answered my email about the Lady Gaga concert) said something very interesting today.
She says we cannot take another's burden on ourselves. It wastes our own time and energy as well as the person's we are trying to help. Girls tend to do that sometimes. They try really hard to take other people's problems and make them their own. Maybe it's a way to forget your own problems, but it does happen.
But Sister Applonie says that's a bad idea. It's not our job to take the burdens. It's Christ's. Our job sometimes is to just stand as a witness for another's pain. Of course, we should be respectful and comforting and do all we can to be there for that person... but sometimes our job is just to listen. Just exist. Just be there.
Hm. I think I should use this.