God entered our world out of abundance. God had it all, and yet He allowed His son to become creation’s savior too.

After one difficult day of ministry,  Jesus asks his remaining twelve followers: “Are you willing to drink from the cup that I will drink?”  Peter responds, “Master to whom shall we go? You have the words of everlasting life.”   Then Peter adds this truth of his belief: “You are the holy one of God.”

This was an authentic declaration of where Peter is with his faith. No wonder Scripture says of Jesus: “How can we not bend a knee in thanksgiving and adoration when we think that the God of our universe, redeems us from our deepest wounds, and saves us from our greatest fears without any hesitation.”

You might want to ask, “Why is God so ready to bathe us in mercy?” The response is easy. “Because our God is about life and not death. God looks at creation and wants creation to be saved and inherit heaven.”

“Always choose life,” Jesus came to announce. He continues, “Once the past is done, there is no sense wasting time crying over what’s finished.”

 It is as if God says, “Okay you stumbled and fell now what!”  God’s only response is: “Fix it in the time left. And this present moment as the best time.” 

The Lord continues whispering: “I can hear your sorrow and together we can fix this and move on!” Again, and just so we won’t forget, I say again: Jesus came to save not to condemn. In his heart, Jesus wants no one to perish. Didn’t he leave the 99 to seek the one lost sheep?

When we hear some bad news that a friend or relative has cancer, that she is losing all hope, or your mom discovered a new pain in back from a car accident, or some other suffering, it fills our present moment. Suffering is one of life’s unwanted travel companions that no one wants. Suffering and pain, let’s talk about it plainly without blaming God!

God does not deliver pain. Nor does God punish by sending pain to us. He sent Jesus, as a savior. Saviors heal! In life, when suffering comes along and disrupts our plans, Jesus simply asks that we remain faithful and still remember His  promises. Jesus will either take away the pain or give us the grace to endure it.

Keep in mind that as a follower of Jesus, all suffering leads to eternal life, but each believer’s path of suffering is unique.  As the late Archbishop Hunthausen said: “Our journey is a pilgrimage that has Jesus as both its origin and its destination.”  

Pain is not a punishment, nor is it an indication that God does not love us. Why would he suffer so much himself? Besides we all have a purpose and a calling. And it reflects a certain part of the Good News for our moment in history. This life is our time, and it is not a dress rehearsal. We are asked to live until we can’t! A full life is finding our own space and growing within it.

 Pope Francis writes in, Gaudete et Exultate: “Each saint has a mission, planned by the father to reflect and embody in a certain moment of history a certain aspect of the gospel.” 

Let’s not let the word  “saint” scare us, as I think it extends to all of us at any given time starting from baptism. Pope Francis continues: “May we come to realize that the word is the lived message of Jesus that God wants us to speak to the world by our life.”

As St. Augustine wrote: “He who made us without help will not save us without our consent! It is not who you are that holds us back but rather it is who you think you are not.”

Always remember:" If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.”