Dear Friends, How do we regard suffering in relation to the Cross? How do we answer the commonly asked question, "WHY DO WE SUFFER?" specially from those who go through life’s endless pains, trails, agonies, and, misfortunes?
At the height of suffering, when the pain is so intense and the burden of the Cross too heavy to carry, we hear many Christians cry out in misery: "Why me, Lord?" "Why does God allow this to happen to me?" "What have I done to deserve this fate?" "I’ve never wronged anyone, why am I suffering this much?" "Why must it be so painful, Lord?" "How much longer must I suffer?" "I am suffering unjustly!" Many of these questions can only be answered by countering with other questions: "What are you a Christian for?" "Why did He have to die for you?" "Why could it not have been you, instead Him, who had to die?" "What did Jesus do to merit death on the Cross?" "Why did God the Father allow Jesus, His only Son, to die a most cruel death?" "Jesus never wronged anyone, why did He have to suffer?" "Was it not unjust to have killed Jesus?" For Christians to cry out in the face of suffering is to defeat the purpose of being a Christian. Suffering is an integral part of Christianity’s unique qualities – for only through the Cross-can we find salvation. It is one quality that is constantly being forgotten or rejected by many Christians because of its strong affinity to pain. Spiritual amnesia aggravates the situation even more by making Christian forget that when they accept the Cross-, they also accept the suffering that goes with it. A cross without suffering is not a cross, for true Christianity is tested by the Cross. It is suffering that provides us the opportunity to strengthen our weak human nature that is inclined to sin. It is the doorway to sanctity, the lifestyle of the saints. Through suffering we identify with the suffering of Jesus and it gives us the chance to follow in His footsteps: to love instead of hate, to give rater than to take, to forgive and not to avenge, to remain peaceful rater than to be violent, to offer unconditionally ones pains in reparation for the sins of others, and even to die for the sake of others. "God never said that our cross in life would be custom-made, that its make would depend on our taste. It could be a light as a branch of a tree or as heavy as the tree itself! It could be as small as a drop of water in the bucket or as big an wide as the ocean itself" (Fr.Bing Arellano). Bensilal DE, USA _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com **************************************************************** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. To unsubscribe, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to this mailing list, visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet For automatic help, send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ****************************************************************
