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Bishop's Homily for the Twenty-Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time

October 20, 2024

Homily of the Most Reverend Larry Silva, Bishop of Honolulu
[Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, Honolulu]

When I was a pastor, I recall a couple coming to me for advice.  They were having difficulties in their marriage and decided to go to marriage counseling.  At the end of their first session, the counselor acknowledged their problems and recommended divorce.  They came to me to tell me that they did not want to divorce – which is why they went to a counselor in the first place – and asked if I could refer them to a counselor who valued the commitment of marriage.  I never met the counselor who recommended divorce, but I would say that counselor was caught up in a notion that is not new, but that is very popular these days, that if something is good, there should be no suffering involved.  If one has to suffer or struggle, many believe, you should just walk away from the situation.

This is the heart of the exchange between James and John and Jesus.  They wanted glory on their own terms, a special place in his kingdom, sitting at his right and left.  Jesus brings them down to reality, asking if they are willing to suffer as he would suffer.  They did not quite understand it at the time, because they had thus far only seen a fraction of all that Jesus would suffer, and therefore, they said they were ready for it.  And Jesus affirmed that they would indeed suffer, but that where one sits in the heavenly court is God’s decision, not theirs.  It was not something they could earn, but would be a pure gift from God.

We would benefit from reflecting on this notion that suffering, while not good in itself, can often lead to something greater and more glorious.  I find the sentence from Isaiah the prophet very curious: “The Lord was pleased to crush him in infirmity.”  On the surface, it sounds like God is some kind of sadist, who delights in seeing people suffer.  But the truth is that God knows that to be truly free from the power of Satan, sometimes we must suffer, so that we can be purified and refined.

I think of the rising suicide rate among young people.  A psychiatrist I know was telling me that more and more children as young as ten years old are turning to suicide.  There is no doubt that young people have many pressures on them these days: trying to do well in school and in sports; trying to accept what God has created them to be in a world that says they can become whatever they want to be; enduring the bullying they often find on the internet, or perhaps being ashamed that they themselves have bullied others.  They begin to think that no one should experience suffering, and so they decide to end it all, leaving a wake of grief and guilt in their survivors.  Somehow, they did not learn that suffering is a part of life and that it can be overcome with the help of God.  But instead of turning to God, they make their own decision.  The lesson for the rest of us, of course, is that we must witness such fidelity to God that others can see there is still hope even in the midst of suffering.  No one can teach us this lesson better than Jesus himself, our high priest who is always able to sympathize with our weaknesses.

This applies, of course, not only to children and young people, but to all of us.  Caretakers often suffer a great deal, and they can allow themselves to be painted into a corner of despair and anger; or they can view their burden as drinking the cup of suffering that the Lord himself drank.  Women struggling with an unplanned and unwanted pregnancy can be tempted to end the anxiety by abortion, yet in the end they usually suffer in ways they do not even realize.  Trusting in God and not in one’s own desires may involve suffering, but it will always be best for all involved.

Jesus teaches his disciples – of all ages and times – that placing the emphasis in life on ourselves and our own desires for fulfillment will inevitably lead to emptiness, if not more pain.  But serving others and thinking of them first, according to the heart of God himself, may bring suffering and trials, but will always be the road to ultimate glory.