today's readings are Acts 3: 13-19; Psalm 4; 1 John 2: 1-5 and Luke 24: 35-48
A story for you. Now while it's not a true story, it's a story that has much truth to it. It's the story of a teacup - a talking teacup.
One day, two grandparents were in a store looking for a birthday gift for their granddaughter. At one point, the grandmother called out to her husband and said, "Honey, come over and look at this!" She then showed him a beautiful teacup. The grandfather exclaimed, "Wow! It is beautiful". To their surprise the teacup exclaimed, "Thank you! Thank you for the compliment! But to be honest, I wasn't always this way." The grandmother asked, "How is that?" So, the teacup told its story.
“In the beginning I was just a big, soggy, dirty lump of clay. But one day a man with big strong hands shaped me and then put me on to a wheel. Then he started turning me around and around and around until I got so dizzy that I couldn’t see straight. ‘Stop, stop’ I cried. But the man with the big hands said, ‘Not yet!’ Finally, he did stop. But then he did something even worse. He put me into a furnace. That furnace was so hot! I got hotter and hotter until I couldn’t stand it! ‘Stop, stop!’ I cried. But the man said, ‘Not yet’. Finally, when I thought I was going to burn up, the man took me out of the furnace.
“Then a lady began to paint me. The fumes from the paint were so bad that they made me sick to my stomach. ‘Stop, stop’ I cried. But the lady said, ‘Not yet!! Finally, she did stop. But then she gave me back to the man again, and again he put me back into that terribly hot furnace! And this time the furnace was even hotter than before!! I was sure that I was going to burn up!! ‘Stop, stop’ I cried. But the man said, ‘NOT YET!!’ Finally, he took me out of the furnace and let me cool.
When I was completely cool, a nice woman put me on this shelf, next to this mirror. When I saw myself in the mirror, I was amazed. I could not believe what I saw. I was no longer a soggy, dirty lump of clay. I was a beautiful and clean teacup! I cried for joy! But then I realized that all that suffering and pain was worthwhile. Without it I would still be just a soggy, dirty lump of clay. The awful pain I had experienced had passed, but the beauty it brought me will remain forever.”
That story I just told lines up nicely with what we heard both in today’s first reading and gospel - that before Jesus could rise to glory on Easter Sunday, He first had to suffer and die. As St. Peter said our first reading, “In this way God fulfilled what He had foretold through all the prophets, that His Messiah would suffer” – but God would then raise Him from the dead. And in our gospel Jesus reminds the disciples that “Thus it is written that the Messiah is to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.” And if you turn to John 15:20, Jesus reminded the apostles that would happen to him, would also happen to us, that we too will undergo times of pain, persecution and suffering in our lives.
Suffering is a part of every single human life. It can come in many forms – like the pain of dealing with a physical illness; or the pain of dealing with one's impending death or the death of a loved one; or the suffering of extreme loneliness, separated from one’s family and friends; or having to deal with great uncertainty for the future regarding oneself and one’s loved ones. No one likes suffering. But every life will have its suffering. And before Jesus would rise to His glory, He had to suffer first. And if we, after we die, are going to rise to glory just as Jesus did, then we too will experience like Jesus did. Now when this happens, at times we are going to want to shout, “Stop, stop”, just like the teacup did. But suffering will not have the final say in our lives - for we will cry for joy – just as the teacup did in the story, and just as Jesus did.
So, what should we do during those times of suffering? First, pray. Pray for the courage and the strength from the Lord to be able to handle the cross that you carry. But be mindful that in your suffering you are sharing in the very cross that Jesus carried. St. Augustine, 1600 years ago said this about the process of suffering: “You are like a piece of pottery, shaped by instruction, fired by tribulation. When you are put in the oven, therefore, keep your thoughts on the time when you will be taken out again; for God is faithful and will guard both your going in and your coming out.”
I will never forget the conversations I had 17 years ago with a parishioner who was dying of cancer, who, as it turned out, had only a few more months to live. What he shared was so poignant. He told me of his worries for his wife and family for the future. He spoke of his physical pain from his cancer, and how each morning he would ask God to give him the strength to endure this suffering. He also realized that he was not alone in his suffering, that Jesus was sharing in his suffering. In our prayers together he would also pray for all those who were also suffering, no matter what form it took - and he prayed that God would give them the same grace that he had received.
I treasured his wisdom when he said that, “Father, having faith is not an insurance policy against suffering. But having faith brings meaning to my suffering. I know that my suffering is not in vain. And I look forward to the glory that is to come, that heaven where is only joy and endless bliss.”
I’d like to finish with a short story – in this case, a true one. In 1954 the famous French artist Henri Matisse died at the age of 84. His final years were spent battling both cancer and severe arthritis, which crippled his hands. But Matisse continued to work, despite the terrible pain. One day he was asked why he continued to work despite all the pain he suffered in doing so. In reply, Matisse, looked at his hands and said, “The pain passes”, and then gesturing at one of his masterpieces, “But the beauty remains forever”.