Suffering unites us to Jesus on the cross. Revive the old custom of "offering it up": offer everything to God - every pinprick, every jab, every twist of fortune.
Suffering makes us human - and it allows us to console others. How can one who has never felt pain offer sympathy and comfort to the afflicted?
We love the suffering that comes to us. Our duty is to put things in order - to right the disorders of sin. It is hard work that will encounter great resistance. Embrace the suffering that comes to us.
Go back through your past life. Offer everything that you have not already offered to God. Christ gave meaning to suffering. By suffering we participate in the redemption of the world.
Remember the parable of the unjust judge and the pestering widow. It applies to our nation today. Do not let the President-elect, your Senators, your Congressmen rest in peace! And pray continually to God to bring about a culture of life.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Retreat, Day 4, 8:40 AM "Suffering"
My notes after the preached meditation on Sunday, November 16, 2008, 8:40 AM:
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1 comment:
This post is problematic for at least two reasons. Firstly, how can
suffering unite us to Jesus on the cross? It is Christ who suffered and not us; nothing we suffer can unite us with Christ or his sufferings. Please do not water down Christ suffering by pretending that we can expiate for sins that Christ already paid for in full. Go and find out the full meaning of the Greek phrase "Tetelestai."
Secondly, you say that by suffering we participate in the redemption of the world, really? How exactly do we do this? The redemption of the world was accomplished at Calvary. We can no more participate in the world's redemption than we can in the world's creation. These little phrases seem so innocent until you are forced to reconcile them with scripture, then they just break down!
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