“Blessed be He, Who came into the world for no other purpose
than to suffer.” – St. Theresa of Avila
Jesus came into the world to take on suffering itself. So I
just found out a few years ago that in the time of Christ, the Crucifixion was
the worst way to die. The Romans would only kill people this way if they were
not a Roman citizen. So if you would have mentioned a cross, people would think
immediately of pain and suffering and total darkness. But what do you think of
if we mention a cross today? Jesus took this symbol and made it the face of
Christianity. Wow- the symbol of joy has become the Cross of Christ!
So what I am getting at is… Jesus can take our worst
sufferings in life and make them beautiful if we simply give them over to Him. And
a great way to begin?! GO TO CONFESSION OFTEN!!!!! Confession is a time when
Jesus continually pours His love and mercy out upon us. So my challenge for you
this Lenten Season is to go to confession regularly—at least once every two
weeks. I promise it will change your life.
There was a man who went to confession every week and after
a few years of doing this he said to the priest, “I am tired of coming here
each week and confessing the same sins.” The priest replied to him, “What? Do
you want new ones”?!
Just remember that in the midst of every suffering, we
should always see the light of Easter Sunday.
-Mark Joseph
