JOYFULLY embrace suffering?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks to his disciples and warns them of what is to come:

“The will expel you from the synagogues; in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God. . . . I have told you this so that when their hour comes you may remember what I told you.”

I wrote yesterday about how for some people at particular times in their lives, the verse from Psalm 23 is hard to believe: Surely goodness and kindness will follow me all the days of my life. (Ps 23:6) This certainly seems like one of those times for the disciples—and yet, when their hour comes to be persecuted and harmed and even put to death, the scriptures tell us that there was great rejoicing.

How could this be, that they would rejoice to have to suffer something for the sake of their faith, for the sake of the name of Jesus?

Do we ever suffer because of our faith? I would venture to say that most of us have it pretty easy, but of course I may be mistaken, because these reflections are going out to other countries than the USA.

But could we, should persecution and difficulty and harsh treatment, or even bigotry be our lot. Could we see that our sufferings are for the sake of our faith, and could we rejoice in that fact?

When I was a young lad in Catholic school, I had be taught that when some little suffering came way I should “offer it up” for the sake of the souls in purgatory. I remember that the Christian Brothers, God bless them, made good and sure that plenty of sufferings came our way, so we had great opportunities to offer things up. But I also recall that there was actually a sense of satisfaction in surrendering in such a way, and that some times I did indeed realize that I was doing something good by offering up my little sufferings, as tiny or insignificant they might be. Actually, the sufferings took on significance when I could place them in a wider context, and to this day, they still do.

The Rule of Saint Benedict has a lot to say about suffering which leads to joy, especially his writings on the steps of humility. I’ll conclude by giving you the entire passage. hoping that you will find ways to apply it to your own life situation:

The fourth step of humility is that in this obedience under difficult, unfavorable, or even unjust conditions, his heart quietly embraces suffering and endures it without weakening or seeking escape. For Scripture has it: Any one who perseveres to the end will be saved (Matt 10:22) and again, Be brave of heart and rely on the Lord (Ps 27:14). Another passage shows how the faithful must endure everything, even contradiction, for the Lord’s sake, saying in the person of those who suffer, For your sake we are put to death continually; we are regarded as sheep marked for slaughter (Rom 8:36; Ps 44:22). They are so confident in their expectation of reward from God that they continue joyfully and say, But in all this we overcome because of him who so greatly loved us (Rom 8:37).    From the Rule of Saint Benedict, chapter 7, verses 35-39)