Exodus 3:1–8a, 13–15 ·
1 Corinthians 10:1–6, 10–12
Luke 13:1–9
with supplemental reading of
1 Corinthians 13:12
John 15:5
Romans 6:8
After looking ahead to this week’s readings and then sitting with them for a while, I decided they address a couple very difficult, very human and very common questions:
1) Why does suffering happen?
2) How can I prevent it from happening to me?
Each reading seems to provide a slightly different response to the first question. I’m not bothered by these differences because I think different experiences create different images of God and that each person’s image of God changes throughout his or her life. I think the Scriptures reflect these differences and experiences. I’ve had friends get upset when I express this opinion because they think I’m saying God changes. I’m not. I hope I’m not being repetitive in trying to make this clear: we change and so our perception and understanding of God changes.
The Scriptures reflect these changes because they show God inspiring and working through different writers at different times. That’s why I find prayer, discernment, and reflection so important when looking for what Scripture has to say to me each time I read it.
I used this approach to Scripture as I prepared to write this post, and some thoughts came to me in response to this week’s readings.
1) Sometimes we cause ourselves and each other to suffer. God doesn’t will us to suffer, though God clearly allows suffering as an extension of free will.
2)Greater suffering is not a sign of greater guilt, nor is less suffering a sign of greater holiness (Luke 13:1- 3) .
3) God is present with everyone in their suffering, and because of God, who is life-giving presence, we may often be able to find good in the midst of suffering and after it (See Exod. 3:9, 14; 1 Cor. 1:10 1-4). Furthermore, we can be the good in the midst of suffering if we respond by acting to reduce suffering or to direct it toward a life-giving purpose (See Luke 13: 7-9). All this is good news because:
4) No one can steer completely clear of suffering, especially not if the person wants to grow and to put down roots that connect him or her to God and to others. Not to suffer for the sake of growing these connections is to suffer, to wither, for the lack of having them. (See John 15:5; Romans 6:8). It’s the human condition to experience both suffering that withers and suffering that allows for growth.
“At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.”
1 CORINTHIANS 13: 12
I won’t call the preceding four points totally satisfying answers to the questions I began this post with. I feel like doing that would imply a certainty and a completeness of knowledge that goes against one of the messages of this week’s main readings. Rather than implying that, I want to thank God, ever-present and ever-sustaining, for any partial knowledge and vision I may have. (See Luke 13: 8-9); 1 Cor. 13:12). I also pray for the grace to let the Holy Spirit turn and return me to the image and to the work of who I am in God. This transformation is my understanding of what it means to repent.
Work cited
The Bible. The New American Bible Revised Edition, Kindle edition, Fairbrother, 2011.
Sitting with the Sacred 
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