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October 9, 2024Those who think that just because they are disciples of Jesus Christ things will become easier in life are in for a big surprise. The Lord does not promise everything will be smooth sailing after embracing the call, but rather the Lord promises the cross. It is the cross of suffering that will lead to glory. It has been said before to married couples, “Just because you are going to get married in the catholic church, it means your problems will disappear, but now that you will receive the sacrament, you will be sustained by the grace of the sacrament which will prolong for the rest of your lives.” This is similar with what can be said of the life of the disciple. Problems of daily life will not disappear just because now they are disciples of Jesus, but Jesus will give strength to overcome them. Jesus gives us the cross, but Jesus also gives us the help to sustain the weight of the cross. Every disciple will have a different cross they have to carry according to their living circumstances. For some the cross will be someone in their family life. For others the cross will be infirmity. This is what is seen in the first reading it is through suffering the servant will be justified. It is through suffering that the servant will be purified. Many times, the cross of infirmity is given so there is an improvement in the relationship with God, so there is a closeness and a dependency with God. And people (even those who claim to be disciples) will react differently. For some the cross is too much to bear and they will denounce it and disavow it. For others, those true disciples, it is embracing it knowing there is a higher purpose, and that they are not alone. Jesus sustains them throughout, because before he passed through the heavens, he too endured suffering for our sake, and now he can sympathize with all who have illnesses and weaknesses. There is a mystery in suffering, but even in this cross the Lord can help. The people who have not suffered much in their life focus on acquiring authority, and they want to make their authority felt over others. In the Gospel reading, it mentions the other ten became indignant when John and James asked to be seated at the sides of Jesus in glory, but only because they had not thought about it first. The Master shows them the way of the disciple is the via dolorosa, the way of suffering. They too must drink the cup of suffering the Master would drink. When suffering is thought about, it’s negative, but sometimes suffering is purifying, and redemptive, to keep the disciple grounded, and humbled. It is when a person undergoes the suffering others have gone through, that the person may become more empathetic and become more a servant. So, God permits suffering to happen for redemptive purposes, and yet God also sustains throughout all the process. At the end, the disciple will have to undergo every kind of suffering the Master has gone through by picking the cross, and maybe at the end, they too will share in his glory. Perhaps not in the right or the left, but somewhere in heaven.