23d Sunday: The Crucible. The Happy Priest on The Meaning of Suffering

Christianity without the Cross is not Christianity.

Too many of our contemporaries seek an easy life without suffering, without sacrifice, without renunciation, without mortification.  Many people would like to stand under the cross of Jesus and cry out as did the jeering crowd on the first Good Friday, "Come down from the cross."  However, there is only one Jesus and he is the Crucified Jesus who rose from the dead.  Christianity without the Cross is not Christianity. Only through the Cross of Jesus can we gain salvation. It is precisely in the crucible of intense suffering that we either come close to God or rebel against his loving presence. 

align="justify">CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (Catholic Online) - When Jewish psychiatrist Victor Frankl was arrested by the Nazis in World War II, he was stripped of all of his personal possessions.  He had spent years researching and writing a book on the importance of finding meaning in life--concepts that would later  become known as logotherapy. When he arrived in Auschwitz, the infamous death camp, even the manuscript hidden in the lining of his coat was taken away.

"I had to undergo and overcome the loss of my spiritual child," Frankl wrote. "Now it seemed as if nothing and no one would survive me; neither a physical nor a spiritual child of my own! I found myself confronted with the question of whether under such circumstances my life was ultimately void of any meaning."

He was still wrestling with that question a few days later when the Nazis forced the prisoners to give up their clothes.

"I had to surrender my clothes and in turn inherited the worn-out rags of an inmate who had been sent to the gas chamber," said Frankl. "Instead of the many pages of my manuscript, I found in the pocket of the newly acquired coat a single page torn out of a Hebrew prayer book, which contained the main Jewish prayer, Shema Yisrael (Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one God. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.)

"How should I have interpreted such a 'coincidence' other than as a challenge to live my thoughts instead of merely putting them on paper?"

Later, as Frankl reflected on his ordeal, he wrote in his book, Man's Search for Meaning, "There is nothing in the world that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions, as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one's life . . .'He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.'"

Most of us when we suffer wonder, why me? Why do I have to suffer? Questions and doubts may consume us. 

"Who can know God's counsel, or who can conceive what the Lord intends?  For the deliberation of mortals are timid, and unsure are our plans?" (Wisdom 9: 13-14).

The meaning of life will be become clearer to us when we realize that we will find purpose in life when our search leads us from why to whom.  Suffering does have a human face to it.  We have only to look at our Lord Jesus crucified on the Cross and there we will find the meaning of our existence and the answer to our searching and longing.

In our suffering we demand answers.  We are not satisfied with pious platitudes such as "just offer it up" or "you will be just fine".  Suffering, especially chronic physical sickness, deep emotional pain and death itself, causes a personal crisis that forces us to go deep into ourselves and ask those questions that are most fundamental to our human existence.  It is precisely in the crucible of intense suffering that we either come close to God or rebel against his loving presence. 

"Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14: 27).  In these words from this Sunday's gospel narrative we discover the drastic invitation of Jesus.  The cross, our personal cross, which cannot be transferred to anyone else, is an essential aspect to our walk with the Lord Jesus. 

Jesus and the two thieves were not the only people ever crucified by the Roman Empire.  Crucifixion was the form of capital punishment used for those people living under Roman jurisdiction who were not actually Roman citizens.  Beheading was the punishment for Roman citizens, crucifixion for non-Roman citizens.  Just think how horrible crucifixion must have been if the Romans spared their own citizens such a terrible death.  So painful was death by crucifixion that the Romans eventually did away with it as a form of capital punishment.

The Jews were accustomed to seeing people crucified. Political insurrections on the part of the Jewish populace were punished by mass crucifixions   When Jesus turned to his disciples and said "Take up your cross and come follow me", it was if he were saying, "Take up your gas chamber, take up your electric chair, take up your noose and come follow me."  Those listening to him knew precisely what crucifixion entailed.  While the comparison may sound absurd, nevertheless, it is precisely in the daily carrying of our cross that we will find the loving presence of the crucified and risen Lord. 

Too many of our contemporaries seek an easy life without suffering, without sacrifice, without renunciation, without mortification.  Many people would like to stand under the cross of Jesus and cry out as did the jeering crowd on the first Good Friday, "Come down from the cross."  However, there is only one Jesus and he is the Crucified Jesus who rose from the dead.  Christianity without the Cross is not Christianity. Only through the Cross of Jesus can we gain salvation.

So, when we suffer, we should not consider our suffering a burden; rather we must look upon the cross we bear as an immense gift from God.  Mother Theresa once said: "Suffering is a sign that we have come so close to Jesus on the cross that he can kiss us and that he can show that he is in love with us by giving us an opportunity to share in his passion."

There are two feast days within the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church that are quickly approaching.  The first, the Triumph of the Cross is celebrated on September 14, the second, that of Our Lady of Sorrows on September 15.  These feast days are celebrated side by side because they are intimately connected. 

The feast of the Triumph of the Cross commemorates St. Helena's discovery of the true cross of Jesus.  This renowned archaeological discovery provided genuine historical evidence for the crucifixion of Jesus, thus giving us tangible proof as solace when our suffering becomes so overwhelming that we begin to fall into the darkness of doubt and despair. 

The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows reminds us that we do have help to carry our cross. True, the weight of our daily cross may prove too difficult to bear.  Nevertheless, her ability to stand at the foot of the cross has provided us with someone that we can count on.  Her affection and maternal care provide us strength and consolation. 

Undoubtedly there are many forms of suffering that are quite mysterious.  Moreover, the need to carry our cross as an essential dimension of Christianity does not take away the need and the duty to seek cures for illnesses and to make this life a better life for everyone.  Although human progress continues to make this earth a better place for everyone, suffering, in one form or another, will always be a part of our existence.   The meaning of suffering does make sense when we contemplate Jesus Christ Crucified and risen from the dead. 

When we ask the question why, we need to look upon the Crucifix.  It is only there that we will find the meaning of suffering and the exact reason why we must carry our own cross.

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Father James Farfaglia, the Happy Priest, is the pastor of Saint Helena of the True Cross of Jesus Catholic Church in Corpus Christi, Texas.  Father has a hard hitting blog called Illegitimi non carborundum.  He has also published a book called Man to Man: A Real Priest Speaks to Real Men about Marriage, Sexuality and Family Life.  You can contact Father at fjficthus@gmail.com.  You can click here for the audio podcast of this Sunday homily. 

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