Since it's Friday I thought about doing a reflection on the Sorrowful Mysteries. I figured I could do one each Friday. Don't worry, I'll have a funnier post tomorrow. The first one is as good as place as any to start and is the Agony in the Garden.
This one is the most theologically difficult for me to think on because we find Jesus suffering. So often we're told that God wants what's best for us, and if we do His will we will be happy. But Jesus conformed His human nature completely to His divine nature, and yet He suffered. Theologically speaking several interesting questions can arise from this. The first that springs to my mind is whether or not suffering is a product of the Fall. Jesus most certainly wouldn't have suffered in the garden if the Fall had never occurred. But there are other types of suffering. Suffering, as it's been defined to me, is the privation of being. So Jesus suffered in the garden because He was being deprived of His very life. To knowingly walk into a painful death is always going to involve suffering because human nature wants to live. But Jesus' case is rather extreme. The one I like to think on is relationships that come to an end. This can be parents sending their children off to college or even close friendships that have been separated.
There is a good in relationships. We are modeled in God's image, and God Himself is a relationship of three persons. So we are meant to be in relationships with one other. When these relationships come to an end there is a deprivation of a good. When parents send their child off to college, even though they know it's for the best and may be very happy that their child is off to fulfill whatever he was meant for in life, they can suffer. That good relationship is no longer. Yes, it's transforming into hopefully something even more beautiful but that doesn't immediately erase the pain. In time that relationship may build to something greater than it could have ever been if the child staid home but the temporary suffering is there.
Same with friends. We may have very close friends that have decided to move away to seek a better job, or be with significant others. Of course, being your friends, they don't want you to suffer, but it doesn't change the fact that the good of the friendship may be cracked or completely broken, and as a result the suffering will come.
In those cases where the relationship may be completely removed, like by a death, the only way to remove that suffering would be to replace it with a greater good. God is the answer here, when our human relationships come to and end we can still turn to our relationship with God for strength.
But it's difficult to determine how much of the suffering is genuine and how much is out of selfish desires. Take the relationships, if we have put a higher value on those relationships than is appropriate then there will be a disordered component to the suffering. I am of the opinion that without the Fall that disordered component would not exist, but that suffering could still occur. It simply doesn't change the fact that the good of those relationships is gone. The only stipulation to this is that potentially our human nature would instantaneously adjust to the transition in the relationships and the new greater good would bring about an even stronger bond than what previously existed. Like as children go off to college, mature and grow, they do become closer to their parents. And their bond becomes stronger than it did before they left. My guess is maybe that short period of suffering would not exist in an unfallen state.
But we are fallen and we do suffer, so all those intellectual daydreams don't really matter much. Basically, even if we perfectly conform ourselves to God's Will, we are still susceptible to suffering, as seen in today's Mystery.
I suppose that as such, the more practical thing to ponder is what is to be done with the suffering. As I see it there are two options, either we can wallow in it, letting it fill us with despair, or we can offer it up. We should celebrate in suffering because by offering it up we can bring about great good. For proof just look at what came about from Jesus' suffering. God the Father didn't just reward Jesus, He rewarded all of humanity with an overwhelming abundance of grace. So too does God reward us and others for our suffering. This is how our suffering can bring about God's glory. We may not see it, but that doesn't mean it isn't happening. Just as our sins can have unseen consequences so to can our victories. God doesn't want us to suffer, but He does permit it so we should make the best of it instead of wallowing in it asking why He's making us suffer. I think those questions can get us in a heap of trouble. First off, by our suffering a great deal of graces can come from it so we should be celebrating the opportunity. God rewards those faithful to Him. Secondly, if God did not allow us to suffer that could potentially start interfering with our free will. Not only that but we should not be so arrogant as to say we know better than God what's best for us. Or pretty soon we are going to say that God should respond to our will, effectively making us the god of God.
There is so much to say on Agony in the Garden but I think this is already getting too long. Tune in next Friday for the Scourging at the Pillar.
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