His Suffering

Jesus said to his disciples:
“If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.
If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own;
but because you do not belong to the world,
and I have chosen you out of the world,
the world hates you.
Remember the word I spoke to you,
‘No slave is greater than his master.’
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
And they will do all these things to you on account of my name,
because they do not know the one who sent me.”
John 15:18-21 (NAB)

Prayer Reflection

Dear Father the Bible gives us exactly what Jesus stated, that he would be hated and persecuted. In the account of the ordeal he suffered in what we had recently gone through ourselves in the season of Lent. Holy week brings to us the truth of these words Jesus spoke. He did it for love of us, to save us because he wanted to do it for you dear Father. As Christians we too suffer in many ways, not as profoundly as Jesus did, but in lesser degrees. Mind you, Jesus did the ultimate suffering for us, so we would be able to endure for love of him. Our persecution at the hands of unbelievers, and even Christians themselves can never give us the true meaning of what Jesus went through. It is in keeping His Word bound to our hearts that we find the source of love. The picture below of the Sacrifice of the Mass with the Angels and Saints speak loudly of today's reading and the sacrifice given up for us. But we also have to remember he asks two specific things of us to love God first and love our neighbor. How hard is that, just think if we honestly loved God first, there would be no hatred nor persecution.

Wednesday of the First Week of Ordinary Time

Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.
Hebrews 2:18

Reflection:
We often find fellowship with those who have undergone the same as we have. Why? Because they understand what our suffering is all about. And if we can do this with those whom we live with, just think about Jesus for a minute and what he suffered too.

I'm not just talking about the Cross he went to, but the suffering he suffered daily. He came to us as a babe in human form in order to help us with our suffering. How can one understand what one goes through unless they live and breath the same as us. With this in mind God gave us His only Son to help us conquer evil and death.

He suffered temptation just like we do, yet he conquered it. He underwent so much during his life, hatred because he was different and went about doing his Father's will. He was loved too because he gave so much of himself for our benefit. But he lived like we live today, but without the excess. He suffered pain, and sorrow. He did it so he could help us.

And we in our blindness forget that he did it so he could help us in our trials. He knew what it was like to live in poverty, he knew what it was like to be tortured in mind, body and soul. Never once think that he doesn't know what we go through in our daily lives, because he knows better than all of us put together.

The same when we say that to another person, I know exactly what your going through I have gone through it myself. We are then of like mind. Don't forget Jesus is too of like mind, he went through it too with us. God Love You