A Morning Reflection – Suffering

Suffering
March 21, 2009

Two days ago I found out that my Mom has cancer. Her prognosis is good. The doctors believe we caught it early. However, she is probably headed for chemotherapy which I am told is not an easy road to travel. Yesterday, I found out that a good friend of mine, another Catholic father active in the church needs open heart surgery to replace an artificial heart valve that is wearing out after ten years. He is about the same age as I am. He told me his problem is from a birth defect. I am legally blind also from a birth defect. I don’t see well enough to drive or play most sports. My mom is a widow living without her best friend for 13 years. At church I have met many widows living without their best friend after decades of living together. Recently, a wonderful family in our church lost their son in a tragic car accident. I could go on and on with more stories. Everyone has a story of suffering.

Today I rode my bike to the barber shop for a haircut. I have not ridden in quite some time, but the barber shop is not far, only about a mile and a half. After my haircut, I took the long way home, maybe two and half miles at most in an effort to exercise a little. I found out how badly I am out of shape. When I got home, my heart was racing and I felt like I might faint. Nothing that a little rest and some water did not fix.

While I was resting and recovering from my bike ride, feeling my heart pounding and sipping some water, I was thinking about my Mom and my friend. I was reminded of a scripture (I think it is in Acts somewhere) that says we must endure many hardships before we can enter into the kingdom of heaven. Suffering is a part of the human condition. We live with it all the time. We turn to God and He comforts us and gives us the strength to continue.

What is so amazing is that God became man. The all powerful everlasting God, the creator of all things, including each one of us, came down from heaven and became one of us in every way but sin. He lived as a human being for 33 years. Then He gave up His life for us suffering in the process the most humiliating and painful death any person has ever experienced. He suffered more than any of us will ever understand. Jesus understands and knows all that we suffer. As we suffer we are united with Jesus in His suffering. He is there with us. He knows. He experienced it. He felt it. He feels it again with us.

So my friends as you go about your day, whatever you are suffering remember that God knows, He understands, He is right there with you and He loves you more than we could ever know.

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