Search
THE 24TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR B – 11th & 12th September 2021
-
REFLECTION
Why do good people suffer bad things? Is suffering a form of punishment from God? Does suffering prove that there is no God, or that God is apathetic to human experiences? Some Christians believe that prosperity indicates God’s favour for good behaviour. Suffering, through the lens of Isaiah in today’s reading, may indeed be the consequence of sin – but not necessarily the sufferer’s sin.
Our world witnesses the horror of innocent suffering caused by others. Innocent children are abused and witness domestic violence. Elders are disrespected and ill-treated by their carers. Countless people are displaced and trafficked while fleeing violence, and then rejected as a nuisance when seeking a safe haven. We also suffer “first world problems” – and some of us suffer deep hardship even in Australia.
However today’s psalm proclaims God who hears our cries. God teaches us through hardship – especially if we seek in it the silver lining of new opportunities. Christ partakes in human frailty and suffering as the consequence of the sin of the world. Christ “trafficked” sinners and the outcast to safety. So too, as Christ’s Body, should we. No good to say “stay, be safe, we wish you well” without actively demonstrating our faith by responding to suffering with practical assistance.
Today’s Gospel challenges us to take up Christ’s cross in following him. When we put ourselves aside in responding to Christ’s grace to heal, visit, clothe and care for others, we will be able to say with the psalmist: “I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living”.
