I'd misspoken earlier this week in suggesting that biblically-speaking, suffering is not mentioned as meritorious outside of persecution for His sake, because that ignores the whole notion that we are the Body of Christ. There is not a separateness. From the Word Among Us meditation for today:
"Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them." (John 6:56)Godincindentally I came across Peter Kreeft writing of 1st Peter in “You Can Understand the Bible”:
Think of it! Jesus lives in us, and we in him. Not only do we belong to Christ; being nourished by his body and blood incorporates us in a mysterious way into his very life. It makes us part of his body here on earth. Whether we receive Jesus in a small country church or an urban cathedral, a nation wealthy and prosperous or suffering and poor, whether the church seems vibrant or struggling, we are all members of his body, and he calls us his own.
Listen to how Jesus addressed Saul: “Why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). That’s how closely Jesus identifies himself with us, his church. We’re not just his followers but also an extension of his own person. Whoever touches us, touches Jesus. Let’s not forget this truth when we suffer for our faith. Our suffering is not unseen. Jesus will be with us and strengthen us whenever we face persecution for our faith.
First…if the Head suffers, His body must also suffer, for otherwise it is not His body. Christ never promised us a rose garden without thorns…George MacDonald says, “The Son of God suffered not so that we might not suffer but so that our sufferings might become his.” Second, because of this real incorporation into His Body, suffering can become a joy: “But rejoice in so far as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (4:13). We must not be bitter or resentful to God for allowing us to suffer, but realize that sufferings are God’s blessings, not His punishments. As St. Philip Neri said, “The cross is the gift God gives to His friends.”Suffering often leads to grevious sin because we may, in desperation, attempt to relieve it unlawfully, i.e. self-medicate. But it’s precisely in the taking of the Eucharist that I can have confidence because then it is not me who suffers and not even me who is responsible for me. By that incorporation I don’t have to carry the full burden of responsibility. I can say, when something bad happens to me: “hey Lord, look what is happening to You!” (or at least part of Him) -- something that can be said only by virtue of His audacious, almost scandalous promises. And of course He may be all right with it, just as He was with his own suffering.
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