Christian suffering and death

IT’S very interesting to note that after Christ was rightly identified by Peter to be the son of the living God, and after Christ made Peter the rock on which the invincible Church would be founded, Christ proceeded to talk about his impending passion and death on the cross. (cfr. Mt 16,13-23) 

 That, of course, astounded the disciples so much that Peter went to the extent of saying, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” For which, Peter received a sharp rebuke from Christ who also went to the extent of saying, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” 

 This gospel episode, of course, tells us that if we truly follow Christ, then like him, we should not only expect suffering and death but also welcome them. That’s because in the first place we cannot avoid suffering and death in this life, no matter how much we try. But more importantly, if we have the same attitude Christ had toward his suffering and death, we know that our own would have a positive and redemptive value. 

 This is what Christian suffering and death is all about. It is a consequence of all our sins but is now converted into a means of our salvation, that is, if we suffer and die with Christ. 

 We need to understand well this basic truth of our faith so that we can avoid suffering unduly or suffering more than we ought. In other words, this truth of our faith enables us to suffer and die properly. 

 We all need to be reminded that all our suffering has a positive and favorable aspect. It’s not all entirely bad and negative, though in itself it will always be bad. But if viewed and lived through our Christian faith, that is, with Christ, there is something in it that can give us a greater good. 

 Our pains and suffering are always the result of sin, ours and those of the others. They are the necessary consequence of our separation, whether temporary or permanent, from God from whom all good things come. (cfr. Ps 16,2; James 1,17) We may not be the direct cause of our own suffering, but in this world, we cannot escape the effects of sin, and so we must be ready for them just the same. 

 We have to remind ourselves that we are not meant to suffer. Our original as well as our ideal definitive state in heaven excludes suffering. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, were in the state of original justice, where everything was in order and in harmony. No pain and suffering touched them, until they fell into sin. 

 And as the Book of Revelation would put it, in our definitive state of life in heaven “He (God) will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (21,4) 

 In this life, we have to expect and be prepared for the unavoidable pain and suffering. And this means that whether we are guilty or not of our pains and suffering, all we have to do is to go immediately to Christ who shows us how to handle our pains and suffering and who is ready to forgive us if ever we are guilty of suffering. 

 We should have this Christian attitude toward all our suffering and death in this world!

Let’s be like the importunate Canaanite woman

THAT beautiful story of the Canaanite woman who importuned and practically nagged Christ for the favor of driving a demon that tormented her daughter (cfr. Mt 15,21-28) teaches us the great lesson to ever strengthen our faith especially when we are faced with difficulties and challenges that look impossible to handle. “

‘O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish,’ Christ told her. “And her daughter was healed from that hour.” 

 In relation to God, we may fall under very different, and even conflicting, categories. We can be believers or non-believers, friends or foes, etc., but to God we are all his children, objects always of his tremendous and gratuitous love. 

 No matter how the state of our relationship with God is, whether it is hot, cold or lukewarm, we should try our best to go to God, especially in some extraordinary situations. He is our last and most reliable resort especially when we find ourselves in some impossible situations. 

 For this, of course, we just have to activate our faith in him, even if our belief in him at the moment is not that strong. Remember one gospel character who said, “I believe, Lord, but help my unbelief.” (Mk 9,24) 

 We should just be humble enough and try to clutch as tightly as possible to whatever strand of faith we may still have in God. To be sure, God always listens and acts on our importunings, even if we seem to annoy him. 

 We should just overcome whatever fear or shame we may have to approach God our Father. To him, we will always be a child who can give him great joy whenever we act like the lost sheep and the lost coin that are finally found or the prodigal son who has decided to return to the father. 

 With just a little flicker of faith and repentance, the heart of God would readily melt into compassion and mercy. In the case of the Canaanite woman, for example, Christ immediately gave in to her request when she did not relent with her request despite the apparent initial rebuke. 

 “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs,” Christ told her at first. It sounds like pure insult, right? That was because being a Canaanite, the woman has no right to ask a favor from a Jesus, a Jew. That was how things worked that time. It was also because Christ was actually testing the woman of her faith. 

 And true enough, the woman did not take offense at the response of Christ, but went to argue her case, showing the intensity of her faith in Christ. “Please, Lord,” she said, “for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” 

 At that, Christ relented, amazed at the faith of the woman. “O woman, great is your faith,” Christ said. “Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour. 

 It’s truly a beautiful story that assures us that no matter how unworthy we are to approach God for a favor, God always listens and cares for us and will give us what is truly good for us. 

 May we have the same faith as that of this importunate Canaanite woman!

The many benefits of prayer

“After he dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.” (Mt 14,23) 

 Let’s take note of how Christ himself always gave priority to prayer, despite the hectic schedule he had to follow during his preaching trips. He found not only time for it, but also the appropriate place for it. In spite of being God himself who became man, Christ always felt the need to pray and did his best to meet the relevant requirements for prayer. 

 He is actually showing us how to carry out a very important duty that is incumbent on all of us if we want to keep our humanity intact, let alone, our Christianity. It is the duty to pray always because that is our fundamental way of being in touch with God, our Creator and Father. We need to be always with God. We will only have trouble when we lose touch with him. 

 God, being our Creator, is not only the giver of our existence but also the keeper or maintainer of it. As such, he is always with us, trying to shape us the way he wants us to be, that is, to be his image and likeness, children of his, sharers of his divine life. 

 But he does this, respecting always our freedom, precisely because being like him, we have to freely correspond to God’s will for us. This is a fundamental truth about ourselves that we should never forget. In fact, we should try our best to faithfully, consistently and generously act on it. 

 And that correspondence to God’s will for us is basically done through prayer. We have to understand that prayer is our first way to connect ourselves with God. It is so basic that we have to learn to turn everything in our life, from our thoughts and intentions to our words and deeds, into some form of prayer. That’s how important prayer is! 

 When we pray, we start to share what God has with us—his knowledge, his wisdom, his power, etc. We get to see and understand things the way God sees and understands them. When we pray, we get to see his will and ways, and learn how to follow them. When we pray, we can manage to handle any kind of situations and predicaments, challenges, trials, difficulties, etc., properly. 

 When we pray, we would be more able to love everyone, including our so-called enemies, just as God himself, as shown in Christ, loves everyone. We would learn how to be patient and merciful, how to be “all things to all men,” how to be both strong and tough, on the one hand, and also gentle and tender, on the other hand. 

 And if God would grant us the honor and the privilege, we can be empowered to do some extraordinary things like performing some miracles and receiving some special charisms that would redound to the good of everyone. Prayer makes our faith active, our hope alive and our charity burning. 

 Of course, we also have to understand that prayer can lend itself to many different ways. There’s vocal prayer, mental prayer, contemplative prayer, liturgical prayer, etc. It can adapt itself to different situations and conditions. 

 The absolutely important thing that makes prayer real prayer is when we manage to give all our mind and heart to God in whatever thing we do or in whatever situation we may find ourselves in. It need not be expressed in words or deeds. It should start and end with our desire to be with God!