The Promise of the Cross

“Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead, and so enter into His glory.”
Luke 24:46

In life, we all suffer. Jesus wanted His disciples to understand this and said to them, “Amen, Amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.” As sons and daughters of God the Father, and brothers and sisters to Christ, that’s God’s promise to us. We all know that life is short. May 28th would have been my son Justin’s 37th birthday. Unfortunately, he passed away at 18 years of age after a 10-year battle with cancer. About a week before he passed away, the doctors told us that there was nothing else they could do to help him.

Even in the worst of times, instead of getting angry at God and blaming Him for our troubles, if we unite ourselves to the sufferings of Christ—meaning if we unite ourselves to the love He showed us by suffering and dying on the Cross—God can and will do amazing things. My wife and I decided to talk to Justin very honestly about the situation he was in, and we also took this opportunity God had given us to talk to him about his faith. After discussing his medical issues, I said, “Justin, in life things don’t get any tougher than this, so I want to talk to you about your faith.” Justin replied, “OK.” Justin wasn’t an overly pious young man, but he was a good and faithful Catholic. He had received all the Sacraments of Initiation—Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation—as well as the Sacraments of Healing—Confession and Anointing of the Sick. He believed in and practiced his faith well for a person his age.

I asked Justin, “Do you believe in God?” He said, “Yes.” I asked, “Do you believe that Jesus died for our sins?” He said, “I do.” I said, “Justin, Mom and I want more than anything for you to get better, but if you get better or pass away, you’re going to be just fine, aren’t you?” In a very calm way, Justin replied, “I’m not scared, Dad.” I said, “Justin, it doesn’t matter if you live to be 18 years old or 100 years old; it’s just a blink of the eye in God’s time.” Again, Justin replied very calmly, “I know, Dad.” My wife and I just cried and hugged him and told him how much we loved him. Knowing that our son was ready to meet the Lord face to face was the first fruit of the opportunity God gave us to unite our suffering with those of His Son, Jesus.

Very soon, we recognized the blessing God had given us by listening to the whisper of the Holy Spirit to talk to Justin about his faith at such a critical time in his life. The following day, Justin had a major stroke and could no longer speak. If we had missed the opportunity God gave us to have that conversation with Justin, we would have regretted it for the rest of our lives.

Romans 8:18 tells us that, “The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed to us.” This verse is engraved on Justin’s headstone. We have lived it and believe it. In this life, we must understand that from the moment we are conceived in our mother’s womb, we are eternal beings; we will never die. Of course, our bodies will die, but our spirit will live forever. This life is simply preparation for eternal life with God. That’s why it is so important that we choose to live our lives in, with, and through the Lord—striving to grow in our relationship with Him every day of our lives, asking God to forgive us when we fail Him, receiving His grace of forgiveness, and giving Jesus all the thanks and praise due our Creator, Sanctifier, and Savior.

Jesus tells us today that we live our lives like a woman in the pain of labor. The pain a mother experiences is intense, but when the baby is born, her pain turns into joy at the birth of her child. In the same way, although we will suffer in life, when the day comes that we meet the Lord face to face, our hearts will rejoice forever in His presence, and no one can ever take that joy from us. So when we are sad, or in pain, or suffering in any way, we should remember that Jesus loves us more than we can imagine and, on the Cross, took the sins of the world upon Himself for each one of us, to give us the opportunity to live in Heaven with Him forever.

To make sure we are prepared to meet the Lord and receive the gift of life with Him, each of us should make Jesus the most important person in our lives—offering up all our pain and sorrow, as well as all our joy and happiness, to the Lord Jesus each day, surrendering ourselves to Him, body, mind, and soul. Confident that although we will have trouble in this world, Jesus has conquered the world and will bring all His faithful brothers and sisters to Himself, replacing any pain or suffering we have experienced with eternal joy in His holy presence.

Amen.