By Fr. Roy Cimagala
Chaplain
Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)
Talamban, Cebu City
Email: roycimagala@gmail.com
THE secret, of course, of how to find joy and glory in suffering is to suffer and die with Christ, that is, having the same attitude and understanding Christ had about human suffering and death.
Only then would we realize that our suffering and death, in whatever form and way they may come, can become the best investment we can make in our life since they would yield us the highest and unbeatable dividend—nothing less than our own salvation, our own reconciliation with God, our Father, our own eternal joy and bliss in heaven!
We should keep this thought and truth of our faith in our mind as we go through the darkest liturgical celebration that is held on Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion. Make no mistake about this—there can be joy and glory in suffering only if we identify ourselves with Christ.
With Christ, suffering becomes an act of selfless love that can take on anything. Only in him can we find joy and meaning in suffering and death. With him, suffering and death lose their purely negative and painful character, and assume the happy salvific character.
We need to process this truth of our faith thoroughly, always asking for God’s grace and training all our powers and faculties to adapt to this reality. That’s why Christ told us clearly that if we want to follow him, we simply have to deny ourselves, carry the cross and follow him. There’s no other formula, given our wounded human condition.
This self-denial and carrying of Christ’s cross will enable us to see that suffering is obviously the consequence of all our sins—ours and those of others. Embracing suffering the way Christ embraced his cross unites our suffering with that of Christ.
Our motive for it should be like that of Christ. It should be the desire to conquer that suffering and ultimately our death through his death and resurrection. It’s obeying God’s will just like Christ obeyed his Father’s will. “Not my will but yours be done.”
Our reaction to any form of suffering in this life should therefore be theological and ascetical. It should be guided and inspired by faith. It should not just be a physical or a natural affair. It should reflect the spiritual and supernatural realities to which we are all subject.
Everyday let us find ways of deepening our understanding and appreciation of this truth of our faith, and also of acquiring the capacity to live it as fully as possible, until we can truly say that we are finding joy and glory in our suffering and death.
Let us often meditate on the passion, death and resurrection of Christ since it is from there that we can get the proper inspiration on this matter. Doing so will help us to overcome whatever fear we may have toward suffering and death.
We all need to be reminded that all our suffering and death have a positive and favorable aspect. They are not all entirely bad and negative, though in themselves they will always be bad. But if viewed and lived through our Christian faith, that is, with Christ, there is something in them that can give us a greater good.
Thus, we should never suffer and die alone. We have to remind everyone that when we suffer, we should see to it that we avoid suffering by our own lonesome. That would make our suffering, whatever may be its cause, whether it is self-inflicted or caused by others, a useless and purely negative event.
