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Isn’t
it interesting that, right in the middle of this season of
Easter joy, the church focuses our attention on the suffering
of the messiah? The prophets announced long ago that God’s
messiah would suffer; "it is written that the messiah must
suffer; Christ had to suffer."
Jesus’ followers never have been able to come to terms fully with the idea
of redemption through suffering. Surely suffering cannot be good, cannot be God’s
desire for us! Jesus, however, turned suffering into a positive force, buying
redemption with the single coin that has suffering and death on one side and
resurrection on the other.
The amount of suffering in our world is staggering. Apart from the suffering
that comes naturally with life, there is the suffering we inflict on ourselves
through injustice, violence and war. The suffering of Jesus continues in our
day, and we still have difficulty seeing its victims as our redeemers.
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“Jesus
takes the side of those most in need, physically
and spiritually. The example of Jesus poses a number
of challenges to the contemporary Church . . . most
radically, it calls for an emptying of self, both
individually and corporately, that allows the Church
to experience the power of God in the midst of poverty
and powerlessness.”
U.S.
Bishops, Economic Justice for All (1986) 52 |
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Now published in book form, To Love and Serve:
Lectionary Based Meditations, by Gerald Darring
This entire three year cycle is available at Amazon.com.
Copyright © 1994, Gerald Darring.
All Rights Reserved.
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Art by Martin Erspamer, O.S.B.
from Religious Clip Art for the Liturgical Year (A, B, and C).
Used by permission of Liturgy Training Publications. This art may be reproduced only by parishes who purchase the collection
in book or CD-ROM form. For more information go to:
http://www.ltp.org/ |
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