I was praying the Rosary just a bit ago, and I had an insight I'd like to share. I've been drawn to the Sorrowful Mysteries ever since I began to pray the Rosary. You may recall that they culminate in Our Lord's death on the cross. I wondered at it many times, but as wise people have told me repeatedly, if you feel led to do a thing, just do it.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done. My heart kept coming back to this. Each suffering Jesus endured was absurd in its flagrant injustice, its obvious unfittingness. Yet He prayed this to the Father through each one. We know that all of it was the will of God. It doesn't change the evil of what was and is suffered, but it contextualizes it into a much greater whole.
I have no idea what these present sufferings are about in themselves. None at all. And if I'm being frank about it, I want them to end. Still, if this is like that, I don't hope for a greater good; I am absolutely certain of it. From the one man's trespass the many were made righteous, in what is the greatest good which has ever been done or seen. If I unite my life but a little with Christ, I'll be paid back more than I could possibly imagine. Not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us, says St. Paul. For the moment, I get the sense that he knows exactly what he's talking about.
Joy comes from the certainty of faith, because it cannot come from the experiences themselves. Faith is a light which reveals the hidden truth of reality, truer than what is on the surface. The Kingdom is coming. It has come. Its truth is surer than the old undying rocks. That's a thought worth clasping tightly.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done. My heart kept coming back to this. Each suffering Jesus endured was absurd in its flagrant injustice, its obvious unfittingness. Yet He prayed this to the Father through each one. We know that all of it was the will of God. It doesn't change the evil of what was and is suffered, but it contextualizes it into a much greater whole.
I have no idea what these present sufferings are about in themselves. None at all. And if I'm being frank about it, I want them to end. Still, if this is like that, I don't hope for a greater good; I am absolutely certain of it. From the one man's trespass the many were made righteous, in what is the greatest good which has ever been done or seen. If I unite my life but a little with Christ, I'll be paid back more than I could possibly imagine. Not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us, says St. Paul. For the moment, I get the sense that he knows exactly what he's talking about.
Joy comes from the certainty of faith, because it cannot come from the experiences themselves. Faith is a light which reveals the hidden truth of reality, truer than what is on the surface. The Kingdom is coming. It has come. Its truth is surer than the old undying rocks. That's a thought worth clasping tightly.
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