Lent & Suffering

When I began preparing myself for Lent this year I spent some time reflecting what my sacrifices were going to be, what charitable acts I was going to do, and what I hope to gain spiritually in 40 days. Some of those sacrifices by some standards are petty but nevertheless when confronted with temptation it can really be a challenge. In addition to giving support to the Church as a part of my acts of charity, I would fast and pray for my Christian and non-Christian brothers. But in the end I had to benefit spiritually in my journey. If I did not resemble Christ at the end, Lent would have been a waste of time.

So I started Lent by finishing a book I started back in October and I figured it would be great Lenten reading. This book was called “Come Be My Light, The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta”. As you might have guessed by the title, these were letters by Mother Teresa to various correspondences. I always remember seeing the public image of Mother Teresa as a joyful little woman. But what was revealed in her writings was different. Mother Teresa suffered spiritually for the majority of her life and her suffering only intensified as she grew older. But it is what she did with her suffering that really surprised me.

The issue of suffering has plagued me for quite some time. I have come to grasp why and how suffering had entered into this world via the original sin of Adam and Eve. But suffering must have a meaning I told myself. There is meaning to life and since suffering is a part of life it must have meaning. But what perplexed me the most is, what are we to do with our suffering? St. Paul wrote in his letter to the Colossians (Col 1:24), “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church…”

What really through me for a loop was what could possibly be lacking in the suffering of Christ that St. Paul can somehow fill up? In reading Mothers letters I saw that she too was filling up what was lacking in Christ suffering.

Then it dawned on me. Our participation is what is lacking in the suffering of Christ.

In Matthews Gospel (Matt 27:32) we read about a prime example of sharing in Christ suffering. It was by a Cyrenian named Simon whom the Romans pressed into service to help carry His cross. What Simon did was help Jesus to Golgotha so Christ can save the world. In essence Simon assisted in the salvation of the world and even helped save himself by participating in Christ suffering. Simon’s experience is at the very essence of redeeming souls by his participation in our Lord’s suffering. This is our mission too. We must deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him (Mark 8:34-35) for own sake and the sake of our brothers.

But suffering is hard. No one wants to suffer. And in fact in seems that once we do follow Christ, our suffering intensifies 10 fold. I am again reminded of another passage in scripture, Matt 8:24-26. Jesus and His disciples clamber into a boat and set sail in the Sea of Galilee and… “Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but he (Jesus) was asleep. They came and woke him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We are perishing!’ He said to them, ‘Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?’ Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm.”

It seems that in this passage and among others that Jesus even attracts trouble. But there is a very important message here for us and it is that although perhaps we can’t pay the bills, or we lost our job, the kids are sick or what have you, it is for a greater purpose and that God is in control even though all seems lost. We need not fear and we must have faith. Trust in God for he is good and if he wasn’t good, we wouldn’t be here.

Understanding suffering and all its intents and purposes this Lent was hard enough. But putting this understanding into action is going to take a lifetime.

Aaron.
St. Joseph - Ora Pro Nobis