By Fr Arockia Dhas Rayappan –
Suffering is part of a divine call; we see it in the mission of Moses (Exodus 3.1-14); of Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 6.1-8), of Prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1.1-13), and of Saint Paul (Acts of the Apostles 9.1-28). In the life of Jesus, it is most eloquently visible. Suffering is also a graced privilege because of the responsibility associated with a specific mission the person is entrusted with.
Therefore, it can only be lived with generous receptivity and magnanimous disposition to do God’s will alone. It makes us participants towards the completion of God’s design here on earth. In particular, sharing in the mission of Jesus brings us many forms of suffering. His call to follow him reminds us of his physical torment, emotional trauma, and spiritual agony for the salvation of humanity. Through this call to suffer with Jesus while on his mission, we see the graced presence of God in our daily life.
In this understanding, suffering is to turn everything for good because it has been made salvific by God’s Grace. Every ecclesial ministry and allied suffering is rooted in the unshakable faith in the sacramental life of the Church, most especially the Holy Eucharist and the reception of the Eucharistic Lord. Suffering augments our love for the Church and its unity; it deepens our life of prayer; it brings spiritual consolation here and now; it makes rejoicing possible amidst excruciating pain; it makes resplendent the ever-green joy that God alone gives; it charts our paths of being pilgrims of hope among never-ending disappointments; it does not make us lose sight of the sure hope of resurrection amidst emotive deaths that happen daily where we die to ourselves for the wellbeing of others; and it strengthens our steadfast belief in the intercessory power of Mary – Mother of the Church. It is a beautiful vocation to suffer with Jesus as articulated by Saint Paul himself:
“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His Body, that is, the Church” (Colossians 1.24).
Suffering with Jesus equips the participants (sufferers) to complement what is lacking in Jesus’ suffering. It makes the suffering salvific and redemptive: embracing the suffering and persecuted Jesus spontaneously gifts us with the grace to see the goodness in humanity. i.e., the larger Body of Christ. We become co-redemptorists as Mother Mary was throughout her life especially at the foot of the Cross. Some of the salvific expressions of suffering with Jesus are the following: As often as we can, we consciously and honestly recall our life of disappointments, sufferings, and pain without judgment; at each recollection, we remain calm; we re-live our past with honesty and sincerity; we face them with confidence, clarity, honesty, sincerity, and spirit of boldness; we do not blame the actors participating in these events; we do not pose questions to ourselves and God; we let live the hurts and aches of our past and present lives; we own up that this was my life, and that was my past; then we take up responsibility for our personal failures from our part in the light of the Gospel before the living presence of Jesus; we let Jesus talk to us; and we let Jesus gently unknot the areas of conversion and healing. There may be areas, we could be unwilling to let Jesus in; yet we trust in His merciful love and accept our personal faults. We make a sincere contrition for our past accepting it gracefully and thereby come to the Sacrament of Confession with the deep faith in the forgiving and healing power of Jesus’ Love and Mercy [To be continued …].
Father Arockia Dhas Rayappan ([email protected]) is a priest of Delhi Archdiocese and a Ph.D. student at Concordia University, Canada. His doctoral research explores practical, resourceful, and sustainable ways to foster social and religious harmony through Basic Ecclesial Communities in the contemporary Indian multi-cultural, plural-religious, social, economic, and political milieu. His ministry in the states of Delhi and Haryana has been in missions of Rohtak and Dharuhera, parishes, the Formation Commission, Vinay Gurukul – Delhi Archdiocesan Minor Seminary, and Saint Mary’s School at Bahu-Akbarpur. He served as the deputy secretary general and PRO of the Regional Bishops’ Council of the North from 2012-2014. His contributions have been published in The Voice of Delhi, The Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection, Indian Catholic Matters, The Indian Currents, The New Leader, The Examiner, The Tablet (Brooklyn, USA), Golden Key Academy (Atlanta, USA), and JDV Times.