It is necessary for each of us to expand our tolerance for suffering. Nothing great is achieved without some degree of discomfort. Suffering is a relative term; for someone who has endured significant hardships, minor difficulties seem trivial. Conversely, for those who have faced little suffering, even small challenges can feel monumental. The more we can expand our capacity to endure suffering, the more we can achieve.
Consider a simple diet: it is a daily choice to limit our physical cravings for food or drink. To achieve a certain level of physical health, we must be willing to suffer. Similarly, suffering is essential for developing athletic skills. No one can simply run a marathon without training their body to withstand increasing levels of discomfort. Strength and suffering go hand in hand; as our strength expands, so too does our ability to endure.
Suffering is a fundamental aspect of our Christian identity. Without it, we cannot achieve holiness. The concept of the “suffering servant,” as mentioned in Isaiah 54, shows that through Christ’s suffering, many are redeemed. Jesus’ crucifixion illustrates that suffering is an extension of self-gift; we cannot truly serve unless we are willing to suffer for others.
At the core of suffering is sacrifice—an intentional act where we lay ourselves down for the good of another. Sacrifice is inherently other-centered and involves a cost to ourselves. There can be no genuine sacrifice without suffering. It requires us to stretch beyond our limits, taking from what we have to give to those in need, sometimes to the point of lessening our own resources.
Jesus, the Son of God, gave Himself as a gift to humanity without sin. This self-gift is fundamental to the Christian attitude of sacrificial love, which is accompanied by suffering. However, the apostles did not fully grasp this concept. In Matthew 20:21 two apostles approached Jesus with a request to sit at his right and left in Heaven, demonstrating a common misconception that honor, power, or fame is the ultimate reward. When they asked Jesus to grant their wishes, He challenged them, asking if they could endure the suffering that would come with such honors, but they did not recognize the depth of His question. Jesus had been clear that He came to suffer and give His life as a ransom for many. He asked if they could drink from the same cup of sacrifice and suffering that He would drink, and although they proclaimed they could, they were not fully aware of what they were committing to.
Jesus prophesied that they would indeed share in that suffering, which both apostles ultimately did through martyrdom. Through their experiences of preaching and proclaiming the Gospel after Jesus’ resurrection, they learned to expand their tolerance for suffering and understood that true joy lies in the outpouring of self, even to the point of death.
We, too, must expand our tolerance for suffering, the ultimate goal of which is stated in the Gospel: the Son of Man has come to serve and not to be served. The essence of Christianity is mutual service—each of us serving one another in a reciprocal act of gift. None of us can survive alone. Each one of us is inherently limited in our capacity to provide for ourselves. In this way our very humanity requires us to rely on one another for the goods of life, love, and holiness.
We must cultivate humility to receive acts of service and have the audacity to give. Receiving is a profound gift of love, showing that others support us where we cannot support ourselves. Giving is an act of sacrifice, recognizing others’ needs and supplying them to the best of our ability. We cannot afford to be weak in serving one another. Such weakness is akin to failing one’s sports team. We must expand our tolerance for suffering through acts of sacrifice so we can better serve one another in love.
This means increasing our desire to give by expanding our capacity to suffer unto service. Just as a person who could only run two miles trains to run 26, and another who started by lifting 100 pounds can eventually lift 400, so too, by gradually expanding our tolerance for suffering, we enhance our ability to serve one another in love.
Sacrifice unto service is the core attitude of stewardship. Stewardship is the generous act of giving oneself for another’s’ needs, ultimately leading to the holiness of life and the salvation of our souls. Stewardship also allows us to achieve practical goods in our parish. This community is thriving because many have chosen to sacrifice their time, talents, and treasure. We cannot meet our needs unless we all expand our ability to sacrifice and give.
This includes stretching the time we devote to prayer, never missing Sunday Mass, and encouraging others to join us. There is nothing as important as Sunday Mass. If you know any Catholics staying at home, invite them to Mass with you.
Additionally, we need to broaden our ability to share our talents. This can be difficult, as it often requires us to break free from isolation. We must choose not only what we want to do but also what the community needs from us by volunteering in various capacities. Each of you have unique talents that you are called to share as gifts to the community of God’s people.
We must also expand our capacity to give of our treasure. In this current age, financial contributions can be a source of anxiety, and we recognize that. However, it’s hard for me not to reflect on my recent visits to 26 Kansas churches. I saw farming communities from the late 1800s that built massive structures at great personal cost, even while living in mud huts. They chose to prioritize building a stone church over a stone house because they placed worship and community at the center of their lives.
Let us challenge ourselves to never rest on the achievements of prior generations without taking up the torch of stewardship ourselves. Much of what we have in this parish has been given to us by those who came before us. I didn’t build this church; I didn’t lay the parking lot or build the school. Yet, I am a steward of what I have received. We cannot feel entitled to this; we must take ownership of it in a way that expands our tolerance for suffering to make it work. To expand our suffering, or to sacrifice unto service, means challenging ourselves to dedicate more time this year, more talent this year, and more treasure this year. In this way we hand on what we have received to generations yet to come.
Fr. Jarrod Lies, Pastor