EMBRACING SUFFERING
“If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself.” – Luke 9:23
I love St. Therese’s book, The Story of a Soul, and I’m eager to follow her “little way” of serving God. But when I read about her desire to suffer for the sake of sinners, my mind drew to a halt. I don’t like any kind of pain, period.
But the idea persisted until finally, I gave in and asked God to teach me to suffer. Somehow, knowing that everything I’m going through was God’s work and that He means to purify me changed my perspective. Instead of curling up and nursing my own pain, I sought and saw what He was trying to teach me.
I realized that we suffer most when we are denied what we want. We feel we deserve to be acknowledged and feel hurt when we’re not. We want to be understood and feel frustrated when we’re not. We crave for things we don’t have and worry beyond all sense. If we think about it, a lot of our pain is self-inflicted.
Before I learn how to suffer for others, I have to stop suffering for myself first. This first step was profoundly liberating. Cecil Lim (cez_lim@yahoo.com)
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REFLECTION:
“The real problem is not why some pious, humble, believing people suffer, but why some do not.” (C.S. Lewis)
Lord, I want to learn how to suffer for the sake of sinners everywhere.
St. Polycarp, bishop and martyr, pray for us.
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