SUFFERING LOVE
“The cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, the ‘one mediator between God and men.’ But because in his incarnate divine person he has in some way united himself to every man, ‘the possibility of being made partners…in the paschal mystery’ is offered to all men.” CCC #618
Being made partners with Christ on the Cross does not seem appealing. Surely, no one wants to suffer. But, “No pain; no gain” ….as the saying goes. The Paschal Mystery does not end on Good Friday but on Easter Sunday when it all suddenly makes sense.
Fr. Robert Barron gives his insights on the value of suffering:
“When a prisoner escaped from Auschwitz in the summer of 1942, the Nazi soldiers imposed their penalty. They took all of the prisoners from the escapee's barracks and lined them up, and then at random chose a man to be put to death in retaliation. When the man broke down in tears, protesting that he was the father of young children, a quiet bespectacled man stepped forward and said, "I am a Catholic priest; I have no family. I would like to die in this man's place."
Pope John Paul II later canonized that priest, Saint Maximilian Kolbe. With brutal clarity, Kolbe allows us to see the relationship between suffering willingly accepted and salvation. He was consciously participating in the act of his Master, making up, in Paul's language, what is still lacking in the suffering of Christ.
When a parent stays up all night, depriving him or herself of sleep, in order to care for a sick child, this parent is following this same example, suffering so that some of his suffering might be alleviated. When a person willingly bears an insult, and refuses to fight back or return insult for insult, he is suffering for the sake of love.
We shouldn't be surprised when we are called upon to suffer in this world. We have been given the privilege of carrying on Christ's work in just this way.”
This month, let us practice the virtue of compassion, that we would willingly extend love to others, even at our own expense.
Being made partners with Christ on the Cross does not seem appealing. Surely, no one wants to suffer. But, “No pain; no gain” ….as the saying goes. The Paschal Mystery does not end on Good Friday but on Easter Sunday when it all suddenly makes sense.
Fr. Robert Barron gives his insights on the value of suffering:
“When a prisoner escaped from Auschwitz in the summer of 1942, the Nazi soldiers imposed their penalty. They took all of the prisoners from the escapee's barracks and lined them up, and then at random chose a man to be put to death in retaliation. When the man broke down in tears, protesting that he was the father of young children, a quiet bespectacled man stepped forward and said, "I am a Catholic priest; I have no family. I would like to die in this man's place."
Pope John Paul II later canonized that priest, Saint Maximilian Kolbe. With brutal clarity, Kolbe allows us to see the relationship between suffering willingly accepted and salvation. He was consciously participating in the act of his Master, making up, in Paul's language, what is still lacking in the suffering of Christ.
When a parent stays up all night, depriving him or herself of sleep, in order to care for a sick child, this parent is following this same example, suffering so that some of his suffering might be alleviated. When a person willingly bears an insult, and refuses to fight back or return insult for insult, he is suffering for the sake of love.
We shouldn't be surprised when we are called upon to suffer in this world. We have been given the privilege of carrying on Christ's work in just this way.”
This month, let us practice the virtue of compassion, that we would willingly extend love to others, even at our own expense.