Our Calling While We Wait…

At the time of writing this article, we are in the beginning of the wonderful season of Advent. This is the season that marks a new liturgical year and the coming of Christ into this world. As Christians we should use this time to reflect on why Our Lord came down to Earth in human form…

“I was gazing over toward the Circus Maximus, toward the Palatine Hill where the Roman Emperors once resided and reigned and looked down upon the persecution of Christians, and I thought, ‘Where are their successors? Where is the successor of Caesar Augustus? Where is the successor of Marcus Aurelius? And finally, who cares? But if you want to see the successor of Peter, he is right next to me, smiling and waving at the crowds.'” 

– Cardinal Francis George’s response to reporters when asked what he was thinking about at the moment of pope Benedict XVI’s inaugural blessing of the crowds.

I think that one of the reasons that Jesus came to this earth fully human is related to what He himself says that He has come to do. Let’s look at Matthew 10:34-39: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter -in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s enemies will be those of his household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.” Hand-in-hand with this verse goes Luke 14:26-27 which is where Jesus says: “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”

What is Jesus saying here? Is he saying he wants us to rebel and hate our family members? Absolutely not! In Matthew 5:21-22 Jesus talks about anger/hatred being subject to judgement… What Jesus is saying here is that the disciples’ family must take 2nd place to the absolute dedication necessary to truly follow Him as He intends for us to do.

The main question I’d like to focus on is this… What does Jesus mean by “take up your cross” and what does that have to do with the season of Advent?

Take John 3:16. Everyone knows this verse (at least they should in any case). “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” In scripture, Jesus makes it very clear that there HAS to be a RESPONSE to love… There HAS to be a RESPONSE to His mercy… But can it stop at merely saying “I believe”? I propose to you dear reader that it absolutely cannot stop there. Jesus makes it very clear how we need to respond to His love and His mercy….

We must take up our cross and follow Him…

Another way to look at it is this… To be a true disciple, WE… MUST… ACT…

We cannot leave it at simply saying “I believe in Him…” can we? As stated in James 2:19 even demons believe that God is one and that belief alone obviously does not save them. 

This was a hard lesson for me to learn. It took years of study, of inner reflection and involved controversy within my relationship with my wife, parents and friends… At one point I even felt like I was losing my wife… It didn’t take long for me to figure out what God required of me, but it did take a long time for me to accept it and to build up the courage to stand up for the path that the Holy Spirit was leading me down.

So how do we discern if God wants us to carry a particular cross? Let’s start with this basic question: what do we think of when we hear the phrase “carry your cross”? Suffering right? I mean, didn’t Jesus suffer when he carried his cross? So what does that mean for us? I believe the answer is so simple, yet it’s one that nobody wants to hear… We must be willing to suffer…

It is important to remember that God does not cause suffering… Rather, He allows suffering or bad things to happen with the knowledge that He can bring a greater good from it. The toughest part for us as self-centered and sinful humans though, is that we’re rarely able to recognize the good in a particular situation at the time of our suffering.

Here’s my favorite verse regarding the topic of suffering… “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church…” – Colossians 1:24.

This verse is not saying that Paul had to make anything up (suffering-wise) for Christ… What Jesus did on the cross is sufficient for our salvation… The reason Paul is rejoicing is that Christ made it possible for us to JOIN our suffering to His… Jesus allows us to be involved in His suffering through our own… Think about it… What’s the best way to teach kids how to do something or teach them about something? You involve them! What a privilege we have to be able to know a Father who allows us to do that!

So what is your cross dear reader? What suffering can you rejoice in by joining your sufferings to Christ? What pain do you have that you can offer to Our Lord this day? He wants our suffering… He WANTS our physical, emotional and spiritual pain!

Okay, so we’ve discussed physical and emotional pain. Pain that we suffer as a result of simply living in this broken world… But what about the pain we’re called to suffer as followers of Christ? Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:12, “In fact, all who want to live religiously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”. We know from history that the first Christians suffered horribly at the hands of worldly rulers and those persons who did not accept Christian teachings and doctrines. Jesus himself even says that his followers will be “…hated by all because of my name…” (Matthew 10:22). Jesus suffered and he knew that we would suffer as His followers… 

“Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. But beware of people, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved.”

Matthew 10:16-22

If you take the time to read the verse above from Matthew Chapter 10 in your Bible , I encourage you to keep reading until verse 38 and take note as to what those verses mean… We are called to suffer for Him! THAT is what Jesus means when he says to take up our cross and follow Him!

Oh my dear reader… This means that we should NOT be afraid, discouraged, nor should we be surprised when we incur suffering or humiliation when we profess our faith in Jesus Christ! We should expect it, welcome it and rejoice in our sufferings just as Paul wrote in his letter to the Colossians!

What’s even more encouraging are Peter’s words in 1 Peter 3:14-17… “But even if you should suffer because of righteousness, blessed are you. Do not be afraid or terrified with fear of them, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who defame your good conduct in Christ may themselves be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God, than for doing evil.”.

Peter says in those words above, that we will be blessed if we suffer for righteousness (v.14); however, take note of an important point here… This righteousness for which we are called to suffer cannot be “our own” but the “good” we suffer for MUST be that of the will of God (v.17).

“Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in His love than in your own weakness.”

Saint Teresa of Calcutta

So what does all of this have to do with the season of Advent? It is in this season as we begin the new liturgical year in The Church, that we should reflect on why Jesus came to Earth and dwelt among us… Of course, He came so that He could suffer and die on The Cross in order to wash away and atone for the sins of the world… That is oh, so true.

However, I also propose to you, a different and much more subtle reason… Now, this is not necessarily a new point, but it is a point that is often overlooked, perhaps even downplayed or outright neglected by many simply because people don’t like to recognize the reality of our call to truly suffer as Christians… I think that God came here to Earth and took the form of humanity so that He could show us, by his example, HOW we are called to suffer including the extreme lengths of humility and endurance in which we are to go in professing our faith in Him…

The word “Advent” means “to come” as well as “a coming or arrival”. Jesus came during Israel’s journey to God when she was waiting on the coming of the Lord. And now holy mother Church is also on a journey of faith as we, the members of The Church, wait for Jesus’ 2nd coming. We should be seeking God just as Israel sought the Messiah in the opening of the New Testament. Just as God moves towards us, we should be moving towards and seeking Him, and how are we to do that? By taking up our cross and following Him…

Until next time dear reader…

Your Humble Servant in Christ,

William