For the Sake of Others

Something that’s been on my mind lately is the idea of suffering… suffering not in the sense of physical anguish or truly desperate spiritual tribulations, but the idea of suffering in the sense of offering up troublesome times for the sake of others.  There are plenty of times in our lives when we can look selfishly upon a situation and complain about how bad we have it.  There are plenty of times when we have a skewed view of what’s actually happening in our lives.  These times call us to a higher standard, they call us to holiness.

I want to submit a challenge to everyone reading this post.  The challenge is this: over the next seven days (start today and go for one week), I challenge you to step outside of your own mindset and put yourself in the shoes of those around you.  Once you do this, I challenge you to offer up your suffering for them.  By offering up your suffering for them, you are asking for grace to be abundantly poured out upon them.  You take the little situations (or big) that are hard to deal with, and you place them at the foot of the cross.  You do this for others around you, not for yourself.  So think about the homeless person you drove past today asking for some spare change, the cashier at the super market, a newborn in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and offer up to the Father all your struggles for their sake.  Maybe your sacrifice will lessen the troubles they experience.

This sort of behavior is counter-cultural.  It may feel weird at times, and you will probably never know the outcome of your sacrifice, but I guarantee that it will change your life.  Anytime you can lessen your selfish behavior and grow in holiness, I recommend taking  that opportunity.

This time of year, I often think not only of the birth of Christ, or merely of the uncompromising “Yes!” of Mary, but also, the incredibly manly sacrifice of St. Joseph.  Do you realize how hard the journey to Bethlehem would have been?  Not only DID HE WALK HIS PREGNANT BETROTHED TO BETHLEHEM 100 MILES AWAY from Nazareth!, he put up with public ridicule, family shame and abandonment for being associated with an unmarried pregnant woman and still chose to raise Jesus.  I can imagine St. Joseph (an incredible example of TrueManhood) never complaining, never mistreating Mary, never giving in on anything for Jesus.  What an incredible man.  May we all follow in his footsteps and be strong for Jesus, even in the face of suffering.

Man up!