From the Pastor’s Desk
The whole world seems to be in some sense hurting. The continuing war of aggression against the country of the Ukraine, the ongoing war in Gaza, therein the terrorism on every continent, hunger, human trafficking, all types of disease, weather related disasters. The list can go on and on. Jesus did not sugar coat things or pretend everything would be just fine. He led by example. His life was one of rejection, ridicule, suffering and a horrible death. For hundreds of years Christians have offered up everything that happens in their day: the joys and suffering, offering to God as a prayer.
God’s ways are not our ways and suffering reminds us of that more than anything else. We live in a culture that despises any type of pain and suffering. Thus we have pain relievers that are constantly being given to us in the form of pills, products, experiences. Anything that can help us to avoid suffering is on the market. The secular world cannot make sense of suffering because it views suffering as worthless. Jesus’ suffering had tremendous value and as His disciples our suffering is somehow connected to his suffering in ways we will never fully understand in this lifetime. Suffering is a part of life. In my homily last weekend, I called it “loss”. Like so many things in life that we have little or no control over, how we respond to suffering makes a huge difference.
Once we come to the understanding of the inevitable sufferings of life, offering it to God as a prayer for ourselves and for others. We become filled with a deep and abiding peace. Since the dawn of Christianity the Church Fathers, the heroes, champions and saints of Christianity have been meditating on the passion and death of Jesus Christ. The world changed that Friday afternoon when Jesus gave up His life upon the cross.
Jesus was very clear in the Gospel when He told His disciples, “If you want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” As we begin the Lenten Season let our prayer be, Jesus, teach me to embrace the unavoidable suffering of life, and keep me ever mindful of those who suffer more than I do. May the Church and our country help those who are suffering?