Suffering

Not that my life has been particularly full of suffering lately, but recently I've been struck by how truly significant and profound God's choice of the method of our salvation was. Last night in men's group for some reason it hit me that as God, Jesus, in His infinite wisdom and goodness, picked the absolute best way possible to redeem us fallen humans. For some reason I'd always projected my own feelings about pain and suffering onto the sacrifice of the cross; it was something that had to be done, endured, part of life. It was heroic of course, but I'd never realized the full significance before. As God, Christ could have chosen any means for redeeming us, and yet the best, absolute most perfect way was to undergo unbelievable suffering both physically and surely spiritually as well to save us poor wretches. The cross was completely voluntary; it was not mere nails that held our savior to the tree but His own will.

In Theology of the Spiritual Life the other day Fr. Roch was talking about the roll of suffering in conversion; how suffering purifies the soul of the believer. Then sometime this morning at Dominican, either in the end of Morning prayer or during Mass I can't remember where, something was said about Christ becoming man to show us how to suffer, to offer it as a sacrifice. There's no way that I'm going to fit the awesome mystery of the means of salvation into my poor very finite intellect but I suspect that it has something to do with the fact that God wanted to give us an example by His death of how to make proper use of suffering.

In a way these very out of the blue revelations have me on edge a little, because I know that everything happens for a reason and although I appreciate the gift of suffering more now, I'm still not eager to undergo it if that's what He has planned. However, in little ways they have been helpful reminders to offer up to God in love my little daily discomforts, a head cold, the incredibly cold weather, frustration with myself and my little everyday failings. In the meantime, I just pray for the grace to accept all things from God's hands joyfully as the gift that they are. What are the little (or big) gifts of suffering that He is giving you to offer up in love?

"For to you has been granted, for the sake of Christ, not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him." - Philipians 1:29

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AHHH!!! That's what it was, after posting this once I realized that during the gospel today, Feast of the Presentation, the one where Simeon tells Mary, "Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that is contradicted -- and you yourself a sword will pierce -- so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." The example of Mary is what prompted my line of thought this morning. Her sufferings were a means by which she became the Mother of us all, and thereby won innumerable souls for her Son. May we strive to imitate her selflessness. PAX