Christ’s Suffering from the Incarnation to the Ascension

The latest in my Friday series during Lent on the Christian meaning of suffering and the Cross.

As I’ve posted the last three Fridays, I’m publishing a weekly series of reflections at Catholic Exchange during Lent. Today’s installment reminds us that Christ’s suffering was not limited to the events of Good Friday: the Cross was imprinted on his entire life. Here is a brief excerpt along with a link to the full article:

“The growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts,” George Eliot wrote in Middlemarch. “And that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.” When Christianity was outlawed, sanctity was often found in the heroic martyrs who boldly proclaimed their faith and publicly died for Christ. In our day, it is most often found in hidden life—in the hidden Christians in Iraq, Iran, and China. In the poor country priest with a tiny parish and no accolades to his name. In the woman who takes the 2:00 AM Eucharistic Adoration time at the parish without anyone knowing it. In the faithful who tithe more than they have to give. True love is often silent, obscure, and done with no witness other than Christ. It is pure, sacrificial, and unattached to any external recognition, not expecting anything in return.

Authentic love for God means responding to every suffering of this life with an affirmative, “Thy will be done.” It involves accepting and seeking small sacrifices and mortifications that nobody else is aware of but oneself and God, out of love for God and neighbor. Charity of the purest kind is often hidden from everyone—even from our own hearts—in order to thwart our interior pride… While there is nothing wrong with ardent expressions of devotion, He is most pleased when we express our love for him in hidden, small acts of sacrifice—as He did throughout his life on earth. Doce me passionem Tuam—teach me Your suffering.

Click here to read the rest of the article. The previous articles of the series can be found here.

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