Marks of Faithfulness (2)

I touched on suffering a bit in my previous post. We do need to think of it by itself though. You see, there are various kinds of suffering that we can experience that are not actually a part of the faith itself. Anyone can suffer a disease like cancer; you do not need to be a faithful Catholic for that to happen. The suffering that I want to focus on is when people seek to cause us harm because we have done something that is faithful to God.

Jesus described it as, "when people say all kinds of evil against you for My Name's sake". In other words, you are not suffering for Christ when your next door neighbor calls the police because your music is too loud. You are not suffering for Christ when you get fired because you were lazy at work. You are suffering for Christ when you refuse to do something immoral (like: prescribe an artificial contraceptive, get drunk, or call a man "she") and people around you try to cause you actual harm (either physically or spiritually) as a result. It is these types of trials that lead us to question whether we are making the right choice to be faithful (which is what the devil wants) and give us the opportunity to strengthen our faith (which is what our Blessed Lord wants).

Now, we have to acknowledge that there are a few other areas where a person can suffer "for Christ" that is not actually a direct aspect of the testimony of our faith. There are times when God willingly allows a challenge in our lives (e.g. the loss of a job) because He is testing our faith to see if we will hold to it. He does this often with those who are the most faithful, because He knows that these little trials will help us to turn to Him and receive even greater grace than we had received before. Thus, they are not in the same category as those ways that we are attacked by the world, but they still have to do with suffering for faithfulness to Christ.

Of course, we do need also to point out that not every challenge is because of our goodness. Sometimes we suffer because we have been foolish. When parents allow their children to be exposed to all kinds of evil and then cannot figure out why their children have given up on the faith, then that is not the suffering I am referring to here. If we drank a two-liter bottle of Dr. Pepper every day for years, and then find out we destroyed our kidneys, that is suffering for being stupid, not for the faith. Yet, if we choose to respond rightly to this kind of suffering, then it can become for us an aid to our growth in the faith.

So then, a mark of faithfulness is suffering for Christ; both directly and indirectly. You do not need to be in mourning on a daily basis for it to be suffering (many of the Saints were able to endure great suffering with a good heart and thank God for it). Yet, there must be a noticeable persecution from the world, and a painful experience on your part. It is easy to look for the "comfort" that the world offers, but that will alwyas lead us away from faithfulness. So, as St. Paul said, "endure suffering as a good soldier of Christ".

To be continued...