There are times when we are going to suffer and we’re going to sacrifice. That doesn’t mean we’re going to enjoy it, but it is the reality of the human condition. There are times when it is right and good to avoid suffering and relieve pain, but we always have to be wary of the cost.


We live in a society that wants to avoid suffering at all costs: we euthanize children in the womb for having a disability or for being born into a poor household; we euthanize the sick because they fear loneliness or pain, rather than managing their loneliness or pain. Much of our society is willing to accept the fact that the cost of avoiding suffering is eliminating the person who would experience it.


A friend recently told me that we need to decide what kind of mistakes we’re willing to make. Are we willing to avoid all suffering at all costs? Are we willing to end an innocent life so we don’t have to raise an “inconvenient” child? Are we willing to forfeit a death at the proper time so that we can have control over all the timing and circumstances at end of life? When I choose the convenient and easier path, what am I sacrificing?


Because at the end of the day, Jesus did not have to go to the Cross. As Peter bemoaned and Satan enticed, Jesus had the power to avoid it all. He could have washed His hands of us and ascended back to Heaven, leaving us in all the muck and mire of our own making. But our God is a God who keeps His promises — and so Jesus accepted the suffering.


Jesus knew the price He was going to pay, but He also knew that His suffering had a purpose and a meaning. Without His suffering, death, and resurrection, God’s plan for the redemption and salvation of His children would not be accomplished. The cost of avoiding suffering and pain was too high. As people called to be imitators of Christ, it’s important to carefully discern how we approach suffering. It’s important to know when suffering can be relieved and when it should be endured.




Stephanie Potter

At times I need to turn a blind eye to the world in order to discern God’s will for me in it. I need quiet prayer, time in Christian fellowship, immersion in His Word, discernment with a capital D. Other times, God draws my eyes toward the wrongs of the world rather than away from them in order to converge my heart with His.


What is the response God desires from me when I see injustice—income disparity, abuse, immorality? Sometimes I think I understand a portion of what my Father desires to do through me, but I’m not confident I understand the entirety of the response He seeks when I take these things in.


With His courage, I took some time this week to allow myself to feel the pain of it all—and the pain brought with it many tears. I often feel overwhelmed with the weight of all the need in this world, and then become paralyzed by it, not knowing where to begin to help alleviate it. But is it my job to eradicate every suffering? No—God is sovereign, not me. I can only, in humility, present my body. Because as Christians, if we’re walking this journey well, my brothers and sisters have also presented their bodies.


As I see it, we have all been entrusted with a small area of the Body of Christ to first make a sacrifice for, and by that sacrifice, build up the other members of the Body. When I take the time to listen to the ways my brothers and sisters are beautifully nurturing others, much of the weight on my shoulders dissolves, and opportunities for cooperation present themselves. Each and every one of us who understands our mission to love the other, does just that. And we do it in the most beautiful, unique, and creative ways. Ways in which I alone couldn’t achieve. Ways in which we were each uniquely designed to do.


As all the members of the Body operate out of their original design, incredible good can be accomplished. And our sacrifices, though often difficult to relinquish, feed not only the recipient of the sacrifice, but our very own souls—because His mercy flows through our sacrifice.


In the end, I believe the true call to holiness involves both looking into the pain and suffering this world presents us with, and then, through prayer and discernment, offering our gifts in cooperation with the gifts of others to lift even the smallest sting of hurt from the life of a soul.


Saint Teresa of Ávila articulated this concept beautifully when she wrote:


Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which He looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world.


Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are His body.


Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.




Lori MacDonald

Praising the Lord makes my heart happy. 

Although I love to take time to praise God, it's not always something that comes naturally to me. During hard and stressful times, it can be hard to enter into prayers that aren't centered around, “I need…”, “God please help me with…”, and all of those other asks that we have of God. But the thing is, the Lord already knows the desires and burdens that we have on our hearts. Knowing this fact has helped me to strive to place the focus more on the Lord, rather than on myself, during times of chaos and anxiety. 

When we praise God, we place our focus on Him. In the psalm, it says: “For you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.” It can be so easy to focus on all of the dread and despair that we have within us. But, allowing the Lord to be with us through those experiences can help shift our perspective; it can even bring joy. Through all of the bad in life, the Lord is always good. Focusing on that Goodness can be so therapeutic during hard times. However, I can also appreciate that getting into that state of praise can also be very difficult at times. My absolute favourite go-to for times of praising God is a good praise and worship playlist. It takes all of the pressure off of me to come up with those praising words and instead I can just enter into God’s goodness. I find that my best times of prayer come with the help of some praise and worship tunes. 

As the psalm mentions, our souls thirst for the Lord. We can quench that thirst through praise and time spent with Him. Praise is like the watering of dry lands. I pray that I can practice the words of this psalm in my everyday life: “So I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on your name.” I pray that I praise the Lord in both good and bad times. I pray that I may focus on the Lord’s goodness always. Amen.

​


Megan Noye

Sometimes when I am weary I wonder, like the prophet Jeremiah, is anyone listening?

 
I know that God sent us His only Son. Does anyone care?

 
And that Son died for our sins. Does it matter?

 
Oh and by the way, He rose from the dead, conquering death for all. Do you hear this people? Why don’t people get it?? Sometimes it feels like an uphill battle to proclaim God’s goodness. 



Have you ever thought, “I’m done with this Church stuff. God’s got it covered. God doesn’t need me to do anything”? When I was 18 my world changed, and I thought exactly this. My mother died—three weeks into my first year of university. I had just begun to gain a deeper understanding of my faith and who Jesus is. I was active in youth ministry, but all of sudden I had responsibilities to my father and younger brother that I didn’t have before. My to-do list only grew with school, part-time work, my friends, my family, this new church “stuff”. I began to wonder what I could give up to give myself some breathing room. I could let go of the faith stuff. It was new. I wasn’t that invested. To be clear, I wasn’t giving up on God, rather, I was leaving the doing of church “stuff” to those who had time to do it. After all, what did it matter if I did “not mention him, or speak any more in his name”? And so, I focused on life. 



While I focused on life, God continued to focus on me. Even though I had decided that I could put God on the sidelines (Ha!) He kept me in the center of His heart and chipped away at the stone wall that was around mine. He continued to gently chip away at it until I was ready to feel Love move and stir my heart, lighting a fire in me to bring about not just words but also actions that speak of God’s love. Looking back, I noticed I was the one who did the moving—away from Him. God stayed still, yet with me, waiting for me to come back—which I did. Six months later I was serving in youth ministry again. I couldn’t walk away. God was still doing good things in and through me and I couldn't contain that.  



Once at Mass I sat behind two five year old girls. When the familiar musical introduction to the gospel acclamation began to play, they immediately looked at each other wide eyed, clasped hands, and excitedly whispered to one another, “It’s time!” And they belted out the Alleluias as they should be sung—full of joy, excitement, and of course, dancing. They could not contain themselves! This is the feeling I need to remember when I am weary. In good times and bad, God has abundant joy and excitement (and probably some dancing) for me that I must witness.


​He cannot be contained. 
 




Aurea Sadi