The Gospel for today has Jesus clearly telling us he must carry his cross and we must carry ours. Generally we flee the cross. But somewhere deep inside we know the need for the cross. Where would you be today without the crosses you learned to carry. The cross is more than suffering, it is self discipline, it is generosity, it is obedience, it is doing what is right even without immediate reward, it is working hard when we’d rather sleep. Where would you and I be had we not learned to accept corsses like these. Most of our progress comes at the cost of sacrifice, ours and others for us. We know, deep inside, that the corss is necessary.
The following video is a little silly but it makes a good point, so learn while you laugh at a corny but clever video:
Here’s another rather clever but corny video which I’ve posted before. In it a pastor and his cat try to explain suffering.
I had my 8yo daughter c watch the cat video.
Me: What was the video about?
c: The cat doesn’t like his flea collar.
Me: What else did you hear?
c: People have more brain cells than a cat. But I knew that already, because Daddy keeps saying that Louis (our cat) has a little tiny brain.
So, Am I to presume you don’t like the cat video? How can you not like a video with a cat in it?? 🙂 Main lesson = our minds are really too small for God to explain suffering to us. It was corny but you’re also telling me it wasn’t clear.
Oh, I loved the cat video! I got the point – that we’re not capable of wrapping our minds around God’s, but apparently my daughter didn’t.
The cat video is cute – a creative explanation of our inability to understand suffering. I’d bet – wait a minute, this is a Catholic blog site – I’d imagine daughter “C” got the message. Kids are pretty smart, but they can have concrete thinking at times. It’s like asking a bunch of five year olds if they know what the five senses are. The child with the arm waving wildly around, saying, “Ooh ooh, I know, I know,” is picked to answer the question and with great enthusiasm and confidence the child hollers out, “A nickel!” So innocent, pure and refreshing!
I tend to gravitate towards humor but was quickly humbled when I once posted the following thought on carrying one’s cross; “Hey God, do you think you could make my cross out of balsa wood?” The response that followed put me where I belonged; “If you think of the cross Jesus carried, you’ll realize that your cross is made out of balsa wood.” Ouch. No room for humor on this topic.The truth hurts.