May the word of my mouth, and the meditation of my Heart be always acceptable in your sight, O Lord my Strength and my Redeemer. In the name of the living God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
What is the purpose of the hardships, like death, loss, and disease, that we face throughout our lives? It is not our jobs to know the reasons.
Today, the fourth Sunday of Lent, I would like to talk about suffering.
In the biblical context what is the meaning of suffering?
What is the main cause of our suffering?
Is it because of our own sins, or the sins of our parents, or our grandparents?
Suffering is the product of sin, which is a transgression of divine rules, according to Paul in his letter to the Romans.
What is the main cause of suffering?
In the book of Genesis, the cause of suffering is the disobedience of Adam and Eve; because of their sins, they became mortal, they and their children would experience sickness, pain, physical and spiritual death.
In the book of Deuteronomy 28: 15-23, God foretold serious consequences when the people did not obey Him. It is true that often the sufferings were linked to the personal and/or collective sins.
In today’s gospel, however, Jesus answered to his disciples, the man who was blind from birth not because he or his parents were sinners, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
In this gospel, did Jesus state, “ this man born blind is in condition for God’s glory?
And what about us, what do we think about our own suffering?
When my wife and I discovered our son was diagnosed as autistic, at that moment, what did we wonder?
We started wondering what we could have done to cause this mental illness. What on earth did we do to deserve all of this?
Even Job who lost everything, his children, his wealth, used to ask these questions when he faced various moments of tribulation.
Faced with suffering, Job wanted to understand what was happening, Job tried to seek the reasons for the past.
Today, in the Scripture Jesus turned the attention of his disciples to something far more important than the reasons of the past.
What is Jesus really telling us this morning through this gospel, is not that our life with all that it includes, has only one goal, to manifest the glory of God?
If we manage our life like this, will our sufferings no longer be an enemy, but a means of glorifying God?
What Jesus is teaching us, is not a lesson about the purpose of all our lives? Don’t we exist in the state we are to glorify Him, day to day?
I think of a good friend of mine named Patti Lynn who had
cancer and for 30 years fought against the disease. Many times people around her have asked “why?”. We never got an answer.
When she talked to me, she encouraged me to look forward and to accept the fact that everything happens for God’s purpose. My son, who is autistic, is 23 years old, is this not for God’s purpose?
When we face suffering, could we use it as a tool to manifest the glory and the love of God?
Jesus’ death was cruel and unjust, humanly speaking. But didn’t Jesus accept the cross so that the works of God would be manifested in his life as well as in his death?
Did Jesus live and die to accomplish God’s purpose? Are we also called to follow this pattern?
Today, each of us can come face to face with something that makes us think that God has turned away from us. It could be a divorce, a problem in our life as a couple, difficulties with our children, an illness.
Again, what is the cause of our sufferings, and our calamities? Is it because of our sins? Keep in mind, Jesus is telling us this morning to look at the goal and not the cause, to look at the reasons of the future and the reasons of the past.
Even though Jesus is not willing to tell us everything about the source of our problems, did he not tell us the glory of God can be manifested in our life despite our difficulties, our diseases and our tribulation?
All that we need to do is to accept God’s decision, as Job did by saying: The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away, Blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1:21).
Paul said in his second letter to the Corinthians, chapter 12:9, “May the power and the glory of God be seen in his sufferings.
Paul gives us a pattern to follow in our afflictions. Yes, when problems come, it is right to pray for healing, it is right to seek to question yourself.
Yes, I do pray every single moment for my son Kely who is autistic- I believe in miracles. After 23 years with this mental illness, I keep praying and at the same time I ask God to give me the courage and the conviction to glorify Him all the time, no matter what.
Can we make this request, asking God to give a strong determination to reveal his works in our daily life whether it’s a moment of joy or suffering? Can you?
The man born blind did it, so do we.
Dave Dravecky, a professional basketball player who had cancer at a very young age and had to stop his career for this reason, said this:
“Tragedy takes us through a one-way door. When we walk through that door, we can never go back to the kind of life we had before. We cannot go back, even if we aspire to. We can only give thanks for what was, for what we have known, the good times we have had, for the laughter, the love, the memories we have shared.
Then we must say goodbye to all those times, to those loved ones, and put our hand in the hand of the Almighty God who has a plan for our future life. Again, in our great lost, we must say as Job, The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away, Blessed the name of the Lord.”
My son Kely, each time I pass by him, I give him a hug saying, Kely I love you, and he responds, I love you too Daddy.
My good friend Patti Lynn who lived with cancer for 30 years- spent $ 60,000.00 to build a primary school in my parish in Haiti. When she gave that donation, she told me Fr Rock, “I give that money for the manifestation of the love and the glory of God in the lives of the poor children in that community.”
Through our suffering, should we focus on the cause or the goal?
Paul and David said, whatever the level of suffering, look at the goal and not the cause.
The man born blind; a lifelong beggar, also looked at the goal of suffering and the cause.
Keep looking the goal of suffering, God, our creator, did not turn away from us, he does not have any desire to turn away from us today, and he will never turn away from us.
Even though, we walk through the valley of death, God is with us.
Finally, we need to believe suffering that we endure is an opportunity to live to the glory of God through Jesus christ, the healer par excellence, who healed the man born blind and many others. When it comes to life in Jesus, suffering does not have the last word, God’s glory has it.
May it be so. Amen.
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