Regular readers of the blog know how much I like the Benedictus prayer companion. I usually do the daily devotions including the meditation. Yesterday's entry was on the Mystery of Failure by Dom Benedict Baur from Light of the World. What a reminder that to be truly united to Christ means to be united to the cross. Suffering is not a curse, but a true sharing in the life of Christ. And, since suffering is unavoidable, why not make the best of it and allow the Lord to draw us close to Himself. This meditation truly called to me to change my attitude toward any suffering -- the big ones and the petty annoyances. Help me, Lord, to embrace all of them cheerfully! Mary Magdalene
embracing the cross.
How great are the trials that beset the Christian, from the cradle to the gave! Sometimes those who are least deserving of pain suffer the most. Te nearer they approach God, the more thoroughly they are purified by the fire of suffering. The more earnestly they strive to serve God, the more they are misunderstood, despised, repudiated, and persecuted by the world. Sometimes they receive like treatment even from their friends."Because...I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you" (John 15:19). Even those who are nearest to us and whom we justly hold in high esteem desert us. Even those in whom we trusted consider themselves justified in deserting d rejecting us. These sufferings are certainly the deepest and most bitter.
Sometimes God Himself seems to have taken the side of our enemies.
