Growing through suffering


I had only intended to write this blog while I was away from the parish, favouring face to face communication while I'm here. But it was suggested to me by our parish Faith Formation Team that the blog had made an impact, and might be an opportunity to offer a range of material which I can't always use  in a homily, or in the parish bulletin. There's also the advantage that readers can leave comments, so I'll give it a go.

Last Sunday's second reading was a difficult passage from the Letter to the Hebrews which includes the phrase "The Lord disciplines those he loves" (Heb 12:6). This can be read as God inflicting suffering on us to teach us a lesson. In my homily I explored differing perspectives on how much we think God intervenes in the world, which could change our perspective from God inflicting suffering to make us grow to God allowing suffering so that we can grow. Suffering comes to us in many forms of loss and limitation, often unavoidable, but our choice becomes whether we allow it to break us, and make us bitter and fearful, or whether we grow into compassion and gentleness. Taking suffering to prayer, praying "God I am scared / angry / sad / empty etc" is the way to grow rather than be diminished.

I then showed this great clip which the BBC have once again produced to promote the paralympics as a terrific example of people who have grown to be incredible through their suffering and limitations.




Comments

  1. Unknown27 August 2016 at 17:52

    Thanks for sharing this Fr Jim. I miss your awesome homilies (and Masses). This is a great way for me to stay connected to the Parish.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fr Jim McKeon31 August 2016 at 05:02

      Helen we miss you too! and I'm glad that this is one way to stay in touch with you. How is the dry season in Wadeye going?

      Delete
  2. Hannah29 August 2016 at 06:21

    This is a great idea. I loved being able to follow your recent journey and now we can still get your pearls of wsidom when we can't get to see you regularly in person.😀Thanks for going the extra mile and sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fr Jim McKeon31 August 2016 at 05:03

      Hannah I didn't know you were following the blog - thanks for reading! We now have Monday midday mass rather than Friday. Will you be coming up during school holidays perhaps?

      Delete

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