WITH all the intense pressures,
challenges, trials, not to
mention, grave problems and crises we meet these days, the likelihood
of teetering into discouragement, if not despair, is quite high. This
is when we need to fortify our hope, learning how to look beyond what
is here and now to see the hand of God behind everything.
We need to acquire this skill, always asking first for the
grace of God. In this way, we don’t suffer unnecessarily, and if we
have to suffer, we don’t suffer uselessly. We should strengthen our
faith and hope, feeding them with the charity of God, and disabuse
ourselves from relying completely on our reason and other human
powers. These definitely cannot cope with everything that we have to
face in this life.
As the Catechism teaches, our human reason, our most
powerful faculty, while capable of knowing God’s will and ways, is
hampered “not only by the impact of the senses and the imagination,
but also by disordered appetites which are the consequences of
original sin.” (CCC 37)
We need to cultivate humility deeply so we can learn to be
trusting in God’s providence even if we cannot fully know and
understand his will and ways. Let’s always remember that God is our
father who will always love us no matter what. He is full of goodness
and mercy.
Being omnipotent, he knows how to derive good from evil
that is caused directly by us and allowed by God in deference to our
freedom. But he can write straight with crooked lines. And if we put
ourselves in sync with God’s will and ways, we too could derive good
from whatever evil may befall on us.
We really have no reason to fall into discouragement, much
less, despair, no matter how grave and ugly our predicament can be.
And that’s because God has given us everything to resolve our problems
in his own terms while also respecting our human condition.
Even in the worst scenario when death appears inevitable,
things can still turn out for our own good, because with Christ’s
redemptive work, the sting of death has been removed.
Thus, we can repeat what St. Paul used to say: “I have
learned, in whatever state I am, to be content. I know how to be
abased and I know how to abound. In any and all circumstances I have
learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want. I
can do all things in him who strengthens me.” (Phil 4,11-13)
There’s really no reason for us to fall into some morbid
fear or helpless self-pity. We just have to learn how to suffer. And
this is always possible as long as we are willing to unite ourselves
with Christ in his patience.
Let’s remember that God does not exempt us from falling
into some serious, and sometimes insoluble predicaments. That’s
because he will always respect the limitations of our nature that can
sometimes lead us to some trouble, not to mention, our own freedom
that we can always misuse and abuse leading us to sin, the worst evil.
And even if personally we have not sinned or do not seem
to deserve a particular burden, we all suffer just the same, due to
the sins of men, ours and those of others. We should not be surprised
by this and waste time complaining about it.
In fact, it can happen that those who suffer the most are
the saintly ones who are especially chosen by God to bear the
consequences of the sins of all men. Those who are more Christ-like
will certainly share more in the redemptive suffering of Christ. The
reverse is also true. One becomes more Christ-like the more he
suffers. In a sense, suffering is a blessing, a privilege.
For sure, the saints are saints precisely because they
have taken the same path of suffering that Christ took. Indeed,
suffering can be a clear sign of God’s predilection for us, as it has
been with Christ who suffered the death on the cross in obedience to
his Father’s will.
So, if our predicaments and suffering lead us to a state
of helplessness, whether they are physical, financial, or even moral
due to our sin, we need to adopt the mind of Christ and the saints and
the other characters in the gospel who did all they can to get close
to Christ, asking for help. Christ certainly listens and knows what to
do. He knows how to convert evil into good, suffering into glory,
death into life.
mention, grave problems and crises we meet these days, the likelihood
of teetering into discouragement, if not despair, is quite high. This
is when we need to fortify our hope, learning how to look beyond what
is here and now to see the hand of God behind everything.
We need to acquire this skill, always asking first for the
grace of God. In this way, we don’t suffer unnecessarily, and if we
have to suffer, we don’t suffer uselessly. We should strengthen our
faith and hope, feeding them with the charity of God, and disabuse
ourselves from relying completely on our reason and other human
powers. These definitely cannot cope with everything that we have to
face in this life.
As the Catechism teaches, our human reason, our most
powerful faculty, while capable of knowing God’s will and ways, is
hampered “not only by the impact of the senses and the imagination,
but also by disordered appetites which are the consequences of
original sin.” (CCC 37)
We need to cultivate humility deeply so we can learn to be
trusting in God’s providence even if we cannot fully know and
understand his will and ways. Let’s always remember that God is our
father who will always love us no matter what. He is full of goodness
and mercy.
Being omnipotent, he knows how to derive good from evil
that is caused directly by us and allowed by God in deference to our
freedom. But he can write straight with crooked lines. And if we put
ourselves in sync with God’s will and ways, we too could derive good
from whatever evil may befall on us.
We really have no reason to fall into discouragement, much
less, despair, no matter how grave and ugly our predicament can be.
And that’s because God has given us everything to resolve our problems
in his own terms while also respecting our human condition.
Even in the worst scenario when death appears inevitable,
things can still turn out for our own good, because with Christ’s
redemptive work, the sting of death has been removed.
Thus, we can repeat what St. Paul used to say: “I have
learned, in whatever state I am, to be content. I know how to be
abased and I know how to abound. In any and all circumstances I have
learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want. I
can do all things in him who strengthens me.” (Phil 4,11-13)
There’s really no reason for us to fall into some morbid
fear or helpless self-pity. We just have to learn how to suffer. And
this is always possible as long as we are willing to unite ourselves
with Christ in his patience.
Let’s remember that God does not exempt us from falling
into some serious, and sometimes insoluble predicaments. That’s
because he will always respect the limitations of our nature that can
sometimes lead us to some trouble, not to mention, our own freedom
that we can always misuse and abuse leading us to sin, the worst evil.
And even if personally we have not sinned or do not seem
to deserve a particular burden, we all suffer just the same, due to
the sins of men, ours and those of others. We should not be surprised
by this and waste time complaining about it.
In fact, it can happen that those who suffer the most are
the saintly ones who are especially chosen by God to bear the
consequences of the sins of all men. Those who are more Christ-like
will certainly share more in the redemptive suffering of Christ. The
reverse is also true. One becomes more Christ-like the more he
suffers. In a sense, suffering is a blessing, a privilege.
For sure, the saints are saints precisely because they
have taken the same path of suffering that Christ took. Indeed,
suffering can be a clear sign of God’s predilection for us, as it has
been with Christ who suffered the death on the cross in obedience to
his Father’s will.
So, if our predicaments and suffering lead us to a state
of helplessness, whether they are physical, financial, or even moral
due to our sin, we need to adopt the mind of Christ and the saints and
the other characters in the gospel who did all they can to get close
to Christ, asking for help. Christ certainly listens and knows what to
do. He knows how to convert evil into good, suffering into glory,
death into life.
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