The Fifth Week of Lent

"Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life."

Jn 12:25

Redemptive Suffering and Human Dignity

• “Pain and suffering have come into your life, but remember pain, sorrow, suffering are but the kiss of Jesus - a sign that you have come so close to Him that He can kiss you.”

- Bl. Teresa of Calcutta

It is not secret that there is incredible suffering in the world. We see it every day in the faces of the hungry in Africa, the sick, the persecuted Christians in the Middle East, the families of those who have died—suffering is everywhere. But suffering and death do not have to be empty and meaningless. Pope St. John Paul II showed us this. He suffered greatly, and towards the end of his life very publicly, from Parkinson's Disease. On March 27, 2005, Easter Sunday, the world saw this incredible, and once athletic and vivacious Pope with so much life and energy struggle to just utter a simple blessing. He showed us the value of redemptive suffering and the greatness of human dignity.

Check out my homily from this past Sunday to hear more about the value of redemptive suffering, and how God suffers with us and transforms suffering and death into glory.

Have a blessed Lent and Holy Week.

- Fr. Jeff