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Click here for information on the Knights of Columbus Charity Golf Tournament held on Saturday, June 15, 2024.
All of our Gospel stories, week after week, are different sides of a bigger story, the story of God’s self-sacrificing love for us. A love so great that he entered history, took on flesh to be one of us, to show us how we were meant to live. To show us what true love looks like. A love that is willing to suffer and even die, for us. The Gospel story is a story of redemptive suffering.
What do I mean by redemptive suffering? How can one person suffer for another? Unjust suffering, patiently and lovingly borne, has redemptive power. The key word is unjust. Suffering that comes to us because of our own stupidity or sin is not unjust. No one else is redeemed by that kind of suffering. Maybe an example of redemptive suffering will help.
Your spouse is sick and you stay by their side night and day. You drive them to the ER, sit there with them for hours. You bring them home, care for them, run to the drug store to get medicine. You are exhausted, worn out. You are suffering, not because of anything you have done. Your suffering is unjust, but you bear it, patiently and lovingly. That is redemptive suffering, that is a suffering that becomes a blessing to others. It inspires others, teaches other, often our children, what true love looks like. And they are blessed to see true love in action. Unjust suffering, patiently and lovingly borne unleashes redemptive power and is a blessing to others. It releases a force in the world that can change people. Think of Martin Luther King and the unjust sufferings he bore, patiently, lovingly, bravely and how it changed people’s hearts, changed the course of history in the U.S. His suffering was a blessing to us.
Now think about our first reading from Isaiah. If he gives his life as an offering for sin, the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him and through his suffering, my servant shall justify many. By bearing and accepting unjust suffering, Christ transforms it so that others will be saved, blessed.
Next the Gospel. As usual, the disciples seem to have missed the point completely. They are worried about honor and power, who is going to be greatest, who is going to sit next to God. What does Christ say? Whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. What will Jesus do? He will bear suffering, suffering that he does not deserve, unjust suffering, a redemptive force for others.
Now think about last week’s Gospel, the rich man. Jesus loved him, wanted him to go the next step, sell what you have and give to the poor. That would have involved suffering, unjust suffering. He did nothing to cause or deserve to lose everything, why should he become poor. We know what happens; he went away sad. He was not willing to suffer unjustly. Two weeks ago we talked about blessings. We said to bless someone is, first of all to see them, to really see them. To look at them in a way that they sense they are truly being recognized and acknowledged as God’s children. To look at them in a way that says, You are my beloved child, in you I take great delight. But that is not all. If we really want to bless someone, we must in some way, be willing to suffer for that person so that they can have more life. Good parents do that for their children. In all sorts of ways they sacrifice their lives for their children. They give up some of their life so their children can have more life. Good spouses do that for each other. Good teachers do that for their students. Good doctors and nurses do that for their patients.
Do we want to bless someone? Are we willing to sacrifice, suffer even just a little bit, for someone else? Are we willing to sacrifice our time to visit the sick or homebound? Are we willing to leave our house 10 minutes early so we can drive someone that can not get to church or a meeting? Would we give up a fancy dinner to send the money instead to Catholic Relief Services for Syrian refugees who have nothing to eat?
Whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. And give of ourselves so others might have life.
What do I mean by redemptive suffering? How can one person suffer for another? Unjust suffering, patiently and lovingly borne, has redemptive power. The key word is unjust. Suffering that comes to us because of our own stupidity or sin is not unjust. No one else is redeemed by that kind of suffering. Maybe an example of redemptive suffering will help.
Your spouse is sick and you stay by their side night and day. You drive them to the ER, sit there with them for hours. You bring them home, care for them, run to the drug store to get medicine. You are exhausted, worn out. You are suffering, not because of anything you have done. Your suffering is unjust, but you bear it, patiently and lovingly. That is redemptive suffering, that is a suffering that becomes a blessing to others. It inspires others, teaches other, often our children, what true love looks like. And they are blessed to see true love in action. Unjust suffering, patiently and lovingly borne unleashes redemptive power and is a blessing to others. It releases a force in the world that can change people. Think of Martin Luther King and the unjust sufferings he bore, patiently, lovingly, bravely and how it changed people’s hearts, changed the course of history in the U.S. His suffering was a blessing to us.
Now think about our first reading from Isaiah. If he gives his life as an offering for sin, the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him and through his suffering, my servant shall justify many. By bearing and accepting unjust suffering, Christ transforms it so that others will be saved, blessed.
Next the Gospel. As usual, the disciples seem to have missed the point completely. They are worried about honor and power, who is going to be greatest, who is going to sit next to God. What does Christ say? Whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. What will Jesus do? He will bear suffering, suffering that he does not deserve, unjust suffering, a redemptive force for others.
Now think about last week’s Gospel, the rich man. Jesus loved him, wanted him to go the next step, sell what you have and give to the poor. That would have involved suffering, unjust suffering. He did nothing to cause or deserve to lose everything, why should he become poor. We know what happens; he went away sad. He was not willing to suffer unjustly. Two weeks ago we talked about blessings. We said to bless someone is, first of all to see them, to really see them. To look at them in a way that they sense they are truly being recognized and acknowledged as God’s children. To look at them in a way that says, You are my beloved child, in you I take great delight. But that is not all. If we really want to bless someone, we must in some way, be willing to suffer for that person so that they can have more life. Good parents do that for their children. In all sorts of ways they sacrifice their lives for their children. They give up some of their life so their children can have more life. Good spouses do that for each other. Good teachers do that for their students. Good doctors and nurses do that for their patients.
Do we want to bless someone? Are we willing to sacrifice, suffer even just a little bit, for someone else? Are we willing to sacrifice our time to visit the sick or homebound? Are we willing to leave our house 10 minutes early so we can drive someone that can not get to church or a meeting? Would we give up a fancy dinner to send the money instead to Catholic Relief Services for Syrian refugees who have nothing to eat?
Whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. And give of ourselves so others might have life.