“You are suffering! Listen: ‘His’ Heart is not smaller than ours. – You are suffering? There is good in suffering.” (Saint Josemaria, “The Way”, 230).
I have heard it said that there are no miserable saints. I have heard it said that Saints are cheerful givers. And I have been thinking about that.
When I was a little girl, one of the Priests who used to come in and speak to my primary school classes about God and the Bible, explained that Christ is very often quoted as saying, “I tell you most solemnly…” This priest explained that those words were used because Christ must have had a good sense of humour. And so, these words were used to indicate that in this instant He was not joking anymore but was speaking earnestly in that instance.
And I have been thinking about that today, because it would seem to indicate that God Himself was cheerful. Even despite all the suffering and sacrifice that He saw – even despite the sinfulness and hypocrisy that He was witness to. And even despite His impending death – which would come at such a very young age… Even despite all these things, God was cheerful. And that cheerfulness was a sign of God’s JOY. You see, when we live the Word of God and follow His Holy Will, even despite suffering and sacrifice there is great JOY to be found.
Even there on the Cross – suffering for all the sins of the world – overwhelmed with the sinfulness of all time, past, present and future, God Himself on that Cross experienced (even in the depth of His pain) JOY.
How do I know this? Well, because He told the Good Thief, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke, 23:43). And when He said those words – using one of the last breaths that He had in this life – there must have been such joy in His heart. For THIS was the reason that He was suffering and dying on that cross – to save souls. And there – right beside Him in that pain – was His first victory over death…
Saint Josemaria wrote in “The Way” at 230, “You are suffering! Listen: ‘His’ Heart is not smaller than ours. – You are suffering? There is good in suffering.”
And in “Friends of God”, Saint Josemaria wrote at 139-140, “God loves the cheerful giver, the person who gives with the spontaneity of a loving heart, without all the fuss and bother of one who gives himself as if he were doing God a favour.”
And I have been thinking about that today, because when I am crucified in my little way – with the small troubles of this world that bother me, I am often overcome by grief. And I forget that on that Cross, my God in all His pain and all His suffering, experienced Joy. And He saw beyond the pain and beyond the apparent defeat – to the victory. And today I think that when I am next suffering, I musty turn my head a little, because to one side of me is the Good Thief. And if I really try to offer my suffering for them, perhaps they too will be with God one day in Paradise – and perhaps I will be too…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.