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A Grain of Wheat
Our beloved Pope, John Paul II (Beatified, May 1, 2011) knew something about suffering. There was a lot of suffering in his personal life, as well as the suffering any Pope may feel. Four years of Parkinson's Disease is a lot of suffering. There is a close-knitted relationship between true love of Jesus Christ and suffering, and with the help of the writings of Pope John Paul II and the Holy Spirit, I hope to delve into that subject a little. Without going into details, there has been a lot of suffering in my own life, and that is why I think I can write about this relationship of suffering and true love of Jesus. That was further helped along as I have been in religious life for about seven years, now about a dozen years ago. Jesus Christ, obedient to the Father, died for us on the Cross, in order to redeem us. Had there been only one person left on the earth, He still would have obeyed His Father and accepted the suffering in store for Him. The Cross for Jesus was an act of perfect love for each one of us - what higher unselfish act is there than to give one's life for another? Since he accepted the Cross at the Will of the Father, His suffering becomes an act of Obedience. When we are asked to suffer, be it through bad health, accidents, or as a result of malfeasance, many of us will blame God. He is not the one to blame. God allows suffering on our part in order to allow us to use this suffering for our love of God. So our suffering becomes an act of obedience also. This is further examplified by people who have made Vows, solemn promises, or some other instrument by which they have made life-long commitments to Jesus, to God, to live a certain way. That always implies obedience and suffering. And in order to keep what is promised we know, we need to have a great deal of love, and His love for us will never stop anyway. In this suffering - love relationship, with God, we are able or are allowed to have a deep friendship with Him. Satan will initially do his best to divert our attention and love away from Christ, but after a long time of solid suffering-love relationship, Satan will understand that his pestering will not have any gains, and he will leave us alone - and then comes a wonderful period of calm in our lives. Pope John Paul II writes, "Physical or moral suffering which comes upon us suddenly, is a call, an invitation, a pressing exhortation to improve, to change our life, to be reborn, to convert. Nothing happens by chance. In every circumstance we must ask ourselves: "What does the Lord want from me? From my situation, from this forced inactivity, from people I encounter—what is the message that will enable me to purefy my feelings, raise my spirit, and hear the voice of truth and conscience?" (Ibid) This call, invitation to Metanoia, is a strong point in our Secular Franciscan formation. We cannot grow spiritually, if we have no will to change. Usually changing means suffering. Detachment from our ego = Suffering. I felt this immensely when I was in religious life, and accepted full membership in an order of monks. There was a certain joyful fear within me, thinking, at that point - I am relinquishing total control of my life, but at the same time, I was joyful that I could do this for God. In retrospect, I should have had complete faith in God, and not worried about my ego, such as it is. But weak as we are, some feel threatened when the exercise of our will is curtailed by a religious superior. That moment of hesitation generally does not happen so starkly to a Secular Franciscan (as opposed to a contemplative monk) but when you examine the matter with clarity, you know we are dedicating our life to God, and that's a good thing, not to be feared. It is the acceptance and ability that we have, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to begin this mutual understanding with Jesus, which will eventually overcome the stress of suffering. If we are open to His beckoning, and we trustingly accept his Will for us, we will have begun a time of Metanoia, change and improvement. That takes not only trust of God, acceptance of His will, but on our part, a strong and active prayer life, frequent use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and use of the Sacraments in General. Holy Mass attendance, using and praying the Crown or Rosary, and in general reaching out to other people as we feel Jesus is reaching out to us. This is the beginning of a series, and will be continued as the Holy Spirit inspires me to write. A note about my writing style. Various people along the way, have suggested to me to always write in the third person singular or plural, with words such as he, she, they, etc. I do not always do this. I am more comfortable in writing in "we, you, our" style. If that should offend you, please forgive me. The writing comes from my heart, and hopefully it will be accepted in like manner. Peace and all Good! Fred Schaeffer, SFO |
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