The Easter Lesson of Suffering

By Marc Massery

April, 12 2020, Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord

•Acts 10:34, 37-43
•Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23.
•Col 3:1-4 Or  Cor 5:6-8
•Jn 20:1-9

In the Gospel reading this Easter, Mary Magdalen comes to the tomb early Sunday morning to anoint the Lord's Body. When she gets there, however, she finds the tomb empty. Immediately, she runs to Peter and John to tell them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him” (Jn 20:2). 

Immediately, Peter and John run to the tomb to see for themselves. When they arrive, they find the burial clothes placed neatly as though Christ had miraculously risen straight out of them. “Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed,” it said (Jn 20:8). What Peter and John saw proved it — Jesus had risen from the dead. The agony they had been experiencing since Thursday night all of a sudden gave way to joy. 

Though they believed He had risen, this Gospel reading finished by saying, “… they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead” (Jn 20:9). Though they found the tomb empty, though they believed, they didn’t fully understand yet why Jesus had to die and rise again.

In each of our lives, there’s something dead, and we don’t fully understand why. Maybe it’s a dream you’ve given up on or a relationship that has gone sour. Perhaps you’re out of work,  suffering from an illness, or there's an emotional wound that won’t seem to heal. Suffering often doesn’t make sense to us. We weren’t made for it. We were made to experience the glory of God for all eternity. Unfortunately, we live in a fallen world; Suffering is our inheritance. 

In our suffering, it’s easy for us to get angry at God and complain about the cross we’ve been given to bear. But if the Easter story teaches us anything, it’s that suffering, trials, and disappointments are necessary. Without the Cross, we would not have had a Resurrection. 

Think about it. As much pain as Christ experienced on the Cross, has there ever been a Christian who wished it didn’t happen? Of course not. Though our trials seem difficult when we’re in the midst of them, we need to trust that God is allowing us to undergo them for a reason. As Jesus says earlier in this Gospel, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit” (Jn 12:24). Through the Cross, through our trials, God gives us the graces we need to grow in holiness. One day we may just look back upon our suffering with gratitude. 

Saint Faustina knew the importance of suffering better than anybody. In her Diary, she said:

Suffering is a great grace; through suffering the soul becomes like the Savior; in suffering love becomes crystallized; the greater the suffering, the purer the love. (57)

Saint Faustina believed so much in the goodness of God that she welcomed all suffering that came her way. She trusted that God had a purpose for her pain and that He would use the pain she went through for good. 

If you’re struggling these days to understand your pain, remember the Cross, remember the Resurrection. With God on your side, your suffering has a purpose — trust Him. 

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Photo by Stephanie LeBlanc on Unsplash

LAMDVD

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