“Our Lord did nothing to deserve His Cross. But it came, and through it, He went to His glory.” (Venerable Fulton Sheen, “The Cries of Jesus on the Cross”, p.36).
I have been reflecting on sorrow and suffering.
Perhaps the most astounding thing in the world to many human souls is the frequency to which we are called to suffer.
When my youngest child went to Heaven before he was even born, the prevailing thoughts in my head were… How? Why? This is unfair!
And I have been reflecting on that time in my life as I have been reflecting on the shock of suffering. You see, prior to that moment, I had – for the most part – managed to avoid any serious or prolonged suffering. Rather than experiencing terrible grief, I had instead experienced minor inconveniences, which though they may have appeared terrible at the time, were by no means serious or terrible suffering or grief.
In his book, “The Cries of Jesus on the Cross”, at page 36, Venerable Fulton Sheen wrote, “The shock of sorrow comes only to those who think this world is fixed and absolute, that there is nothing beyond. They think everything here below should be perfect. Hence, they ask questions: ‘Why should I suffer? What have I done to deserve this?’ Maybe you did nothing to deserve it. Certainly, Our Lord did nothing to deserve His Cross. But it came, and through it, He went to His glory.”
And I have been thinking about that Cross and that suffering of Our Blessed Lord. You see, though I questioned the unfairness of my own Cross all those years ago, through the Grace of Conversion, which occurred through the Mercy of God and nothing more, I can now see the complete misunderstanding of my journey.
Now – with a new-found understanding of the unworthiness of my soul, and the certainty of eternal life – I have come to realise that my question and my doubt were inverted. In my shock at the pain of suffering (for which I had never prepared) I failed to see that I was shocked at the wrong thing. Instead of being shocked that I had been called to suffer, what I should have been shocked about was that I had only been called to suffer so minor a thing.
And in saying this, I in no way diminish the importance and value of my precious child’s soul. You see, for me as a mother, it is that child who is most dear to me in all the world, because it is that child who shall kneel at the Feet of the Almighty Creator of the Universe for all eternity to intercede for me and for my husband and our other children for all eternity.
Rather, what I am saying, is that if I compare my own suffering to that of God Himself, who is not only so greatly offended by sin, but also suffered and died for love of we who tortured and offended Him, then there mere fact that I could ever be shocked is an indication for just how clueless I really am…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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