Why do people get hurt? And why are there people who cause others pain? Why are there people who are broken hearted and why are there heart breakers? Why is there always pain and when will we be without aches in our bodies? Good thing there is biogesic or ponstan or efficascent oil. But what to do then if biogesic or ponstan no longer works? Or applying efficascent oil no longer works in removing the pain that we carry?
What happens? The question of evil, the question of pain, the question of suffering has been a question that humanity has been wrestling with since human beings started to reason. Since we started thinking, we have been breaking our heads about the reality, the fact of pain, of torment, of hurt, of agony, of being broken, of sick and even of death.
Today, the Word of God is teaching us what pain really is. What suffering really is. What torment and anguish really is. What brokenness means in our lives as human beings.
First, pain is a mystery. Sickness is a mystery. Hurt is a mystery. How come they hurt me and the others don’t. How come I get sick and the others don’t get sick. Pain, suffering is a mystery. When we see pain, we feel too small. We feel too tiny. We feel like powerless. We feel like weak creatures unable to fight a great mystery which is pain.
We need to accept this, that suffering here on earth is something we cannot understand for ourselves. . And that is the reality. We just have to live with it. We just have to accept that for as long as we are here on earth, we will be living with a little headache or perhaps with a little body ache, with a little heartache, with a little disappointment, with some frustration. Brothers and sisters, these will be part of our lives.
But the second teaching about pain, about hurt is that pain and hurt are not only mysteries. Pain and hurt are also gifts. Gifts. Where did God show the height of His Love for us? At the pain on the the cross. Where did God show the depth of His Love for us? At Calvary. In other words, somebody who faces pain, somebody who endures hurt, somebody who carries the cross is given a share in the passion of the Lord.
This means that if the Lord wants to show His love for us, He gives us what is most important to Him. And what is that which is most important to Him? It’s not money. It’s not comfort. What matters most to Him is to die for us. That is why in the life and testament of of Saint Teresa of Jesus, she asked the Lord, “Lord, I have served You. I have served the Church. And look what happens to me? People are opposing me. People are trying to destroy me. And I am hurt by what they do to me. Lord, I am your friend. You are my friend. Why do you do this to me?” And Jesus told Teresa, “Teresa, that is how I deal with my friends.” And Teresa said “That is why you have few friends.” The cross, the pain, the hurt is a gift…is a kiss from our loving God. Another Teresa of Calcutta was also confronted by it. And she was assured that hurts and pains and sufferings are kisses from the Lord. And she said, “I hope the Lord does not kiss me too often.” Pain is a mystery. Pain is a gift.
Last, pain is a promise. Yes, it is a promise. Pain is only like a seashell and it may be hard, it may be impenetrable but it is like a seashell and inside it is pearl. In other words, we are waiting for a new heaven, a new earth. Where will be love without pain, where there will be hope without terror, where there will be peace without terror and there will be life and there will be no more death.
When we experience suffering here on earth, let us be reminded that in the after life there is life without pain, without the need for biogesic or ponstan, there is no more resentment.
Because in the new heavens and the new earth, that the Lord has promised us, love will be without pain, life will be without sorrow, life will be without sickness. And it is a promise of the great things to come.
Three words for pain. It is a mystery. It is a gift. It is a promise. When the load you carry has become very heavy. When medication nor anesthesia can no longer remove the pain, when you can no longer sleep nor eat because of the heavy burden that you carry. Then we ask, “Lord, where are you? I need you.” The Lord will answer us, “Through Him, with Him, in Him. Through your pain, with you in your pain, in your pain, I am with you. There is no pain here on earth that can separate us from the love of God. There is no pain here on earth that can separate us because inside our pain is God, with us in our pain is God, and amongst us is God who has embraced our pains. So later on when I say – through Him, with Him, in Him – and you sing Amen. Say amen and say to the Lord – in my pain, You are there, You’re a mystery. As I carry my pain, You are with me, You are my companion. As I carry my pain, You are inside my pain. Lord, You are my hope.
