Upside Down

If God causes you to suffer much, it is a sign that He has great designs for you, and that He certainly intends to make you a saint. And if you wish to become a great saint, entreat Him yourself to give you much opportunity for suffering; for there is no wood better to kindle the fire of holy love than the wood of the cross, which Christ used for His own great sacrifice of boundless charity.--- Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)

 

Heavy. This is a heavy thought. How incredible it must be, to be so dead to self, that one rejoices in suffering! That one finds great joy in being humiliated or broken, or considers one's self favored highly by God when life becomes a trial. This is a bizarre way to live. It is upside down, foreign to our culture, and to our modern Christianity of sweet blessings, and God fixing everything for us when we want it fixed. In fact, when we truly study the words of our Lord they sound very much like St. Ignatius of Loyola, "If a man wishes to come after me, he must deny his very self, take up his cross, and begin to follow in my footsteps." (Matt 16:24)" This also sounds like the apostle Paul, " I rejoice in my sufferings.." Weird. God's Kingdom is so upside down to our thinking. Someone asked Thomas Merton one day what he wanted to be now that he was Catholic. He said, "I guess I want to be a good catholic", to which his friend replied, "no, you should want to be a saint." This changed Merton's life. It should challenge ours as well.

 

wkm