While he was yet with them, Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. (Mt 16:24)
He wasn’t only referring to carrying it, he also was referring to falling with it.
Usually, we have one of two reactions when someone is sharing their misery with us. We either placate them because we don’t know how to – or maybe don’t want to – deal with their sorrow. Or, we bolster them up and send them on their way because we don’t have the know-how or time to listen and console. We give them the stiff-upper-lip pitch which never really gets to the root of the problem but makes us feel as though we’ve done them a good turn.
When you face an obstacle, you have three choices.
Give up.
Grit your teeth and power through it.
Grit your teeth and proceed in the spirit of self-sacrifice.
My poinsettia plant is blooming. Right now. During Lent.
A fluke? No, this happened on purpose.
Before we can truly, purely extend mercy, we have to be accepting of mercy ourselves. The fact that we ourselves have been recipients of mercy will make us even better givers of mercy.
If I had lived at that time, if I had been standing along Calvary, would I have known who Jesus really was? I’m not so sure. For that reason, I’m grateful to live in this time and place and to have been gifted with my Catholic faith.
In your own suffering, it might seem as though there is no one who can break through the barriers and offer you comfort and encouragement.
Mary.