Suffering and Sacrifice

First, how is everyone doing?  I think we’re all suffering from Covid fatigue and the closer we get to the end of the pandemic the worse it seems to get.  But, we need to stay the course.  We’re.  Almost.  There.

We may also be suffering from Lenten fatigue.  That chocolate we gave up for Lent is starting to look pretty good about now.  And it’s getting harder to find time for those spiritual disciplines we said we’d practice each day.

That’s what’s nice about Palm Sunday (March 28).  It gives us a festive break, a chance to catch our breath before the intensity of Holy Week.

Holy Week, of course, precedes Easter Sunday.  Admittedly, Holy Week contains some uncomfortable days. It contains suffering.  Since we do our best to avoid suffering, many believers choose to skip Holy Week observances and go right to Easter.  But, you can’t have Easter without Good Friday.  You can’t have the empty tomb without the cross.  Sometimes you have to travel through the darkness to reach the light.

One man who knew all about this was Oscar Romero whose life and martyrdom we celebrate this Wednesday, March 24.  As I wrote at this time last year, Romero is one of my personal heroes because, like Jesus, he “fought against injustice, poverty and hunger in his native El Salvador…by sacrificing his life.”

Romero is an unlikely hero.  Those in power chose him to be the Bishop of San Salvador because he was mild-mannered, conservative and thought to be easily manipulated.  The powers were wrong on every count.  Well, they weren’t wrong; his faith led him down a new path, the path of being the voice for the voiceless.  It was a very dark path at times.  Murders and suffering were the order of the day.  A very good friend of his, Father Grande, was murdered and branded a communist.

Oscar Romero knew that the same fate awaited him as well.  But, he had something very rare:  moral courage.  He had the courage to do what was right even at the cost of his life.  Echoing Jesus’ words he said:

“Whoever out of love for God gives oneself to the service of others will live, like the grain of wheat that dies, but only apparently… Only in undoing itself does it produce the harvest.”

Oscar Romero, like his friend Father Grande, like hundreds of others, was murdered by the rich and powerful of El Salvador because he spoke and lived the truth.  But, unexpectedly, he became even more powerful in death than he was in life.  His influence extends around the world.  Truly, his death produced a harvest.  His sacrifice was not in vain.

Thomas Keating writes about the difference between suffering and sacrifice:

“A clear distinction must be made between sacrifice and suffering.  Suffering is the conscious experience of pain.  Sacrifice can also involve conscious pain, but it is primarily an attitude.  The attitude of sacrifice can transform suffering into joy…Of course suffering itself does not make one holy and can even lead to despair. Despair is suffering that fails to teach.” (The Heart of the World)

To put it another way, suffering for the sake of suffering is worthless.  Suffering for the sake of others is transformative.  If we skip over Holy Week, then we miss the true dimension of Jesus’ sacrifice.  And we miss the opportunity to have our suffering transformed as well.

A friend of mine just received a diagnosis that would be devastating to many people.  Instead of being devastated, he is excited about the glory it is bringing to God.  Whether he is physically healed or not, whether he lives or dies, he has found joy in the fact that his diagnosis has brought his family closer to God.

God doesn’t want us to suffer needlessly.  God wants us to change and grow.  But, there can’t be growth without some kind of pain.  We must allow God to transform our pain, otherwise we will fall into despair.

As I write this there has been another mass shooting.  That makes seven mass shootings in seven days.  As a nation, we have yet to do anything to prevent more mass shootings, more pain.  Apparently, we are willing to live with the despair these needless deaths bring.  Apparently, we are willing to live with this “suffering that fails to teach.”  When will enough be enough?  How can we take these tragedies and let God transform them?  What do we need to sacrifice?  Where will we find the moral courage?  Questions to ponder as we enter this most holy time of year.

Grace and peace,

Mark