Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from you.”

Inevitably for a Christian at all reflective about life there comes the realization that through some pain, some suffering, some agony, I will know what it means to share the cross of Christ.

It might be through something the Lord did not go through like cancer or the loss of family members in an accident. Or it might be through something very much like his suffering: being misunderstood, persecuted, falsely accused, harassed by someone or some group.

Psalms which complain of enemies out to destroy the psalmist become painfully comprehensible, no longer references to some remote and unimaginable situation.

The first kind of suffering, from disease or catastrophe, leaves us pretty innocent. The other type, more like Christ's, might, on closer analysis, be more like the crucified thief's crucifixion. As one of the criminals says to the other one crucified with him (referring to Jesus), “We actually deserve some punishment; this man has done nothing” (Luke 23:41).

If we have earned the enmity of others there might easily be some flaw in us that precipitated it. The fact that our cross might be somewhat self-induced only adds to the anguish and pain. Villains and good guys are not cleanly distinguished. Identifying with the cross might mean, among many other things, simply accepting more of the ambiguity and disorder of human life. The villain and the hero both live within us.

Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”

Reply to Fr. Don at: DTalafous@csbsju.edu

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