Thought for the Day – 26 May – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900) SJ
PATIENCE
Meditations for a Month
The Solution of the Mystery of Suffering
- At the beginning there was no suffering. It was not until the Angels rebelled that pain and suffering made their appearance in God’s universe. Suffering is the necessary expiation of the outrage offered to the Majesty of God by His creatures. It is a fulfilment of the eternal law that, he who sins must suffer. It is the complement and effect of sin. It is the carrying out of the law of retribution. What else are my sufferings but the just punishment for my sins?
- But suffering is a great deal more than this. It is the remedy for the disease of sin, the kindly knife which hurts but cures. What a change suffering makes in men. See Nabuchodonosor before he suffered, proud and lifted up, and afterwards – mhumble and submissive. (Daniel 4 : 27) See the prodigal son led by suffering to return to his father’s house. See even the wicked Achab humbled by suffering. (3 Kings 21:27) ‘It is good, O Lord, says David, ‘that Thou hast afflicted me. Before I was troubled I went wrong but now, I have kept Thy word.’
‘ Chastisement yields to those who are exercised by it the peaceable fruit of justice.’ (Hebrews 12:I1) It purifies the soul and almost forces men to humility and submission. Has it had this effect with me? If it has, I will thank God. - Suffering is the payment for joy to come. The willing acceptance of it, is the surest road to a high place in Heaven. We can earn more grace for ourselves and for others, by the patient endurance of suffering, than by the most active zeal – it is a safer, as well as a surer means of glorifying God, for we cannot well be proud of our sufferings as we may be of our actions. Thus, it is one of the best gifts which God can give us.
I, therefore, must be willing to pay the price, if I desire to win the reward!
AnaStpaul 