Dear St. Martin’s Parishioners,
Happy Lent! We have all heard of the recent health travails of Pope Francis. Being 88 years old, with one lung and double pneumonia is a very serious condition to be in. As we start the season of Lent with the Pope suffering as he is, I am led to think about the reality of redemptive suffering. Lent is a time of spiritual preparation for The Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. It is a paradox that Jesus’ greatest power was displayed in his moment of greatest weakness and suffering, that is, his Passion and Death. Jesus redeems suffering, as it were, allowing it to be a source of unimaginable grace.
St. Paul has a remarkable statement: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church” (Col. 1:24). Redemptive suffering means that although Christ’s Passion was perfect and lacking in nothing, our own sufferings, united with his and offered in love, draw down abundant graces for the Church. The Pope, as the Vicar of Christ, has a special role in suffering with Jesus for the redemption of the world. Maybe at no other time has the Pope’s mission been so important for us.
In Lent, our own role in redemptive suffering comes to the fore. Maybe we aren’t dealing with a serious illness, but we all have our own crosses that can be united with Christ’s own perfect sacrifice. In a special way, our active participation at Mass is to unite ourselves, and especially our sufferings, in union with Christ’s sacrifice. The graces that abound from that action we will only be able to fully know in heaven. St. Padre Pio said, “I only suffer when I am not suffering.” What he meant was that when he suffered, he could unite himself to Christ more intimately and participate in his redemptive work more fully.
Please mark the dates of Monday, March 24 and Tuesday, March 25 on your calendars. From 6:30pm to 9:00pm each evening we’ll celebrate our Parish Mission: Via Crucis: Finding Hope in Suf ering. The evenings will include talks on the lives of the saints, Eucharistic adoration, Mass and healing prayers.
In Christ,
Fr. Dave
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