Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
After today’s Gospel, we might be thinking, ‘Jesus should have taken a marketing class!’ Telling people, “‘Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me,’” is a great way to have no followers. He should have minimized the trials and emphasized the joys, to the effect of, “Yes, there may be some sufferings, but then you’ll never have to worry about anything!! You’ll get a glorified body, be able to rejoice at the big celebration in heaven, and it will never end!!” Instead, the “payoff” if you will, is only at the end: “‘For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay all according to their conduct.’”
Jesus clearly is not trying to sell us the new fad. The life of His disciples, the life of those in the Church, is to be centered on the cross. It’s surprising that any disciples continued to follow Jesus. But Jesus doesn’t change his “ad.” He doesn’t tone it down, or repackage his message to make it more appealing. Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, sets before those who come to Him, the Way of the Cross, the Truth of suffering, and the Life that is possible only after passing through death.
We generally hate suffering. It is repulsive to our very nature. Why should I have to go through pain? I want to avoid, not embrace, suffering! We’d rather not have to eat our vegetables to have dessert when we’re young. We’d rather not have to go to practice and work out in order to play sports, or be in band or drama. We’d rather not have to work hard to be able to earn a good grade in class or go on vacation from our jobs. We’d rather not have to endure some illness or disease. Just last week, as my great-aunt was dying, my family asked me why the woman we all loved had to endure so much pain? Why would God allow this?
In the midst of the problem of suffering, it would be great if the Church had a quick answer that perfectly responded to the problem and that would solve it. It would be easy to think, ‘if I just lived perfectly, maybe I wouldn’t have to suffer.’ But that’s not the case. Look at the Blessed Mother: what suffering she endured watching her Son die on the cross, innocent as He was. Look at Jesus, the Beloved Son of God the Father, Who was perfect in His humanity and divinity, Who, nevertheless, was scourged, crowned with thorns, mocked, and executed in an extremely painful way. Those who lived perfectly still had to suffer. Yes, suffering increases in relation to our sinfulness. But even the sinless suffer. Even Jesus had to unite His will always to the Father’s, and take up His cross.
In the midst of the question of suffering, the Church responds that suffering is not good in and of itself; it is something that should repulse us. And yet, it is suffering that saves us. Jesus’ suffering on the cross brought life, not only to Him who was raised on the third day, but also to us who were united to Him in His death, so that we can also be united to Him in His resurrection. Our suffering can save us, and save those we love.
Last week we celebrated the memorial of St. Rose of Lima, the first saint of the Americas. In the Office of Readings from the Liturgy of the Hours, St. Rose wrote, “Our Lord and Savior lifted up his voice and said…‘Let all men know that grace comes after tribulation…This is the only true stairway to paradise, and without the cross they can find no road to climb to heaven.’” In this vision that St. Rose had, Jesus reaffirmed the words of today’s Gospel. Now, this is not to say to Jesus enjoys watching us suffer, like some sadist. But, it is only by dying to ourselves, and uniting that death with Jesus on the cross that we are able to share in the resurrection. New life can only take place after death. The new flower can only come after the seed dies. The old saying, “offer it up!” was not just something the nuns said to keep children in line, or that parents said to stop the kids from whining. It is a great truth that when we unite our small and large sufferings with Jesus on the cross, that suffering becomes not just a burden and meaningless, but something which can bring joy and peace to ourselves and to others.
And the great news is that we do not suffer alone. When we unite our suffering with Jesus, we also invite Jesus, and all the angels and saints, into our own passion, just as they were present at the Passion of Our Lord. And we know how much easier suffering can be when we are united with others. If a person gets hurt, it helps to have someone be with you until the injury can be dealt with. If a person loses a job, it helps to have someone, not just to commiserate with, but to truly guide us through the trial. And when we suffer and unite our sufferings with Jesus, we know that we are never alone.
The challenge for us is to make that conscious choice to offer our sufferings with Jesus. St. Paul tells us to “offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.” What does this mean? It means that, as we come to this Mass, we unite all those sufferings we have experienced in the past week with the host that is on the altar, which is the sacramental re-presentation of Jesus on the cross. If we lost a sports game, we unite that pain to Jesus; if we got hurt or are going through a serious illness, we unite that suffering and frustration to Jesus; if we’re not doing well in school, or are nervous about a new school year, we unite that anxiety to Jesus; if we have lost our job and don’t know how we’re going to make ends meet, we unite that uncertainty to Jesus. People say that things are bad right now: unemployment, wars, natural disasters, uncertainty, etc. These are not good things. But they can be great opportunities for deeper prayer, and real growth in grace by uniting ourselves to Jesus on the cross. If we truly wish to be a disciple of Jesus, we must deny ourselves, take up our crosses, big and small, and follow Jesus. “‘For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay all according to their conduct.’”
