Suffering as proof of true love

WE have to be clear about this truth of our faith. If we truly have love, the love that comes from God and not just our own idea of love, we should be willing to suffer and die for our beloved who in the end is none other than God, and because of God, is also everybody else. 

 This truth of our faith can be gleaned from that gospel episode where Christ asked his disciples who he was. (cfr. Mt 16,13-23) A variety of answers were given by them, until Peter himself gave the right one. “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” To this answer of Peter, Christ was so happy that he exclaimed: 

 “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.” Then Christ proceeded to tell Peter about the founding of the Church, giving him the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, such that whatever Peter would bind on earth will also be bound in heaven, and whatever he looses on earth will be loosed also in heaven. 

 But the more intriguing part of this gospel episode is that after this very dramatic exchanges between Christ and Peter, Christ proceeded to talk about his impending passion and death. 

 This part of the gospel narrative somehow tells us that for us to be with Christ, some suffering would be involved. Said in another way, suffering is a clear proof that we are with Christ and that we are truly in the dynamic of real love. 

 Thus, 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, there is something in it that can give us a greater good. We may refer to this advantageous aspect of suffering as the happy Good News or Gospel of Suffering. 

 We have to remind ourselves though that we are not actually 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 deserving of suffering due to sin. 

 It’s true that God is always offended by our sin, and will somehow show his anger and disappointment to us. But let’s never forget that with him, anger would only be for a moment, while his mercy is forever. (cfr. Ps 30,5) 

 We should be quick to unite our suffering with that Christ on the cross, and thus convert our suffering as the very proof of real love!

When God seems harsh to us

“IT is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” (Mt 15,26) These words of Christ certainly must have sounded harsh to the Canaanite woman who begged him to cure her daughter who was tormented by a demon. But instead of being turned off, she persisted in her request. 

 She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” And that’s when Christ said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour. (Mt 15,27-28) 

 Sometimes God tests our faith if only to purify and strengthen it. We should just persist in going to him even if he seems to reject us. With God we should not be afraid or ashamed. He always cares for us. 

 This should be the attitude to have. It’s an attitude that can only indicate our unconditional faith and love for God who is always in control of things, and at the same time can also leave us in peace and joy even at the worst of the possibilities. 

 We have to follow the example of the many characters in the gospel who, feeling helpless in the many predicaments they were in, earnestly rushed to Christ for some succor. They went to him unafraid and unashamed and they got what they wanted. 

 It may happen that we may not get what we want. And in this, we should not be too surprised or too worried. What is sure is that God always listens and gives us what is best for us. If our request is granted, it’s because it is good for us. 

If our request is not granted, it could be because what we asked is actually not good for us. Examples of this kind of cases are aplenty, and many would later on realize how lucky they were that what they asked for was not granted. 

 We should not forget that God will always listen to us and will act on our requests promptly and in the best way for us, considering both our immediate and the ultimate needs, and no matter how imperfect the object, motives and manner of our petitions are. 

 Remember the parable of the persistent widow and the unjust judge narrated in the gospel of St. Luke, chapter 8. The conclusion of that parable is the following lesson we should learn at heart: 

 “Will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off.?” (7) 

 This lesson is reiterated in the gospel of St. Matthew where Christ said: “What man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (7,9-11) 

 We should therefore have no fear or shame in going to God for all our needs. We should persist in our requests even if he appears to be harsh to us or even to reject us. His heart will give in with our persistence!

Even Christ needed to pray

“JESUS made the disciples get into a boat and precede him to the other side of the sea, while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone.” (Mt 14,22-23) 

 As can be clearly seen in this gospel passage, even Christ had need to pray. As God, we can say that he had no need to pray. As man, of course, he had to. But Christ is one divine person. When he prayed, we have to understand that he prayed both as God and man. 

 This consideration can only mean that prayer is an essential and indispensable element in God and man who has been created in God’s image and likeness. We need to realize that prayer is an essential and indispensable element in our life. Without prayer, we would actually violate our humanity. 

 We need to understand that we need prayer more than we need air or water or food. Prayer is what connects us and likens us to God. Prayer is what makes our life a life with God as it should be. We should, therefore, cultivate a life of prayer, making prayer like an instinct, such that whatever we are doing, whatever situation we may be in, we should be praying. 

 To be sure, prayer can be done anytime, anywhere. Praying is not simply a matter of reciting some vocal prayers or participating in liturgical prayers. It is not only a matter of meditating on some truths of our faith. All of these are very important, of course, and highly recommended. They are the basics to learn if we wish to develop a working life of prayer. 

 The ultimate prayer is when our very consciousness always has God in Christ through the Holy Spirit as its core. This may be described as contemplative prayer which will have its definitive state in heaven when we see God face to face and when our identification with him becomes perfect. This is when we will have the beatific vision. 

 We have to understand that it’s when we pray, that is, when we truly pray and not just going through the motions of praying, that we would be engaging ourselves with the most important person in our life, God himself. He is absolutely our everything, without whom nothing and no one has any importance. 

 It’s when we pray that we manage to relate who we are, what we have, what we do, etc. to our ultimate end which, to be sure, is not something only natural but is also supernatural. Nothing therefore can rival the importance of prayer. In other words, prayer is irreplaceable, unsubstitutable, indispensable. It’s never optional, though it has to be done freely if we want our prayer to be real prayer. 

 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. That’s why St. Paul once said, “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thes 5,17) That’s simply because our whole life has to be a prayer, since it is meant to be in constant and intimate relationship with God. 

 So, even our work and all our earthly concerns can be made into prayer as long as we have the proper motive and frame of mind.