A Few Words On "The Word"

November 18, 2007
The 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Luke 21:5-19

Pushing through the Pain

"Pain is temporary, it may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever."
– Lance Armstrong

Sometimes, it’s all about the pain. Our body aches and everything inside us begs us to stop but we know we can’t. We push on, mentally willing our legs to keep moving. Sometimes, we endure mental or emotional pain that can overwhelm us in ways that physical pain can’t. Even then, we keep living.

My friend Ben excels at running cross country races. As with most endurance sports, they’re grueling tests of how much pain you can tolerate. Ben’s season was going great and he was setting himself up for a run at winning the state championship when he was forced to have his appendix removed. We all figured that his season was over.

Luckily, Ben was running again within three weeks and was able to compete in the state meet. However, it was a very painful experience. After crossing the finish line 17th out of over 200 runners, he vomited blood. Not a pretty picture!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not endorsing pain. There’s a good chance Ben shouldn’t have been running a race so soon after his surgery. Vomiting blood is never a good thing and I’m really glad he’s okay. Ben probably pushed himself too hard and too fast. Nonetheless, I’m proud of him for pressing through the pain to accomplish his goal of running at state.

In today’s gospel, Jesus directly talks about the pain we have to endure to reach our goals. Jesus begins by pointing out that someday the world will end. Our material possessions will disappear and there will be signs that tell of Jesus’ return. However, before that can happen, we will have to endure persecution.

At first glance, we might think that this reading is a little extreme. We don’t necessarily expect Jesus to return any day now. However, we can apply it directly to our lives. As peacebuilders who desire and work for the peace and justice that Jesus brings we will be persecuted. We’ll endure pain and suffering both mentally and physically.

Despite this rather dreary outlook there is so much hope for us. Just like Lance or Ben we can’t quit. As God’s co-workers we have an obligation to bring about God’s Kingdom even if it brings a sense of discomfort, insecurity, or costs us our very lives. We have to persevere by driving onward toward our goal, realizing that extraordinary things like peace and justice never come easily.

Reflection Question

In what ways have you pushed through any pain or persecution you’ve endured to continue working for peace and justice?

Join us in our Forum to discuss these questions!