2 Cor 1:1-7 / Mt 5:1-12
One of the surprising things that we learn as we pass from childhood to adulthood is that things are not always as they seem. Things that seemed permanent and solid as rocks proved instead to be transitory and evanescent. Best friendships that we thought would last forever disappeared without a trace. People we perceived as unquestionable winners turned out to be losers of the first rank. Aspirations whose fulfillment seemed to promise unending bliss revealed themselves to be no more than a handful of dust. And the unwavering conviction that when we “grew up” we'd be strong and powerful enough to get whatever we wanted proved to be just an illusion.
Life is a gift — no doubt. But without exception, every human life has its fair share of disappointment and suffering. There's no avoiding that. So our challenge is to discover what to do with our sufferings and how to make them count for something and lead to something better.
St Paul hints at an answer when he talks about sharing in the sufferings of Christ. That begins with taking our sufferings and, instead of railing at the them or futilely trying to run away from them, embracing them as our lot, our truth at this time, and doing so in Christ, abandoning ourselves to him and becoming one with him in mind and heart. The payoff is two-fold: Our time of suffering gains meaning, and our union with Christ lasts after the suffering has passed.
Contrary to appearances, nothing in this life need ever be useless, not even our pains and disappointments, if we are in Christ. Learn that lesson now and even the worst of days will have purpose and will bring their own kind of joy.
