Wednesday
of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
(Hebrews 12:4-7.11-15; Mark 6:1-6)
Disciplinary action is not necessarily punitive. Parents should inculcate discipline by
insisting that children do their chores and arrive at appointments on
time. The author of the Letter to the
Hebrews sees God acting in this way when He allows His people to undergo
trial.
Throughout the letter the author has urged his readers not to give
up on Christ. He has assured them that
Christ is in the perfect position to help them.
In today’s passage he asserts that if they experience trials, they
should consider their suffering a discipline.
He would say that Christ does not mean to punish them and much less is
he unable to help them. In the author’s
estimation Christ only intends to make his people stronger for having
experienced hardship.
Trials often give us pause to think. “Why must I suffer?” we may ask. We are wise to look at the cross when faced
with such a challenge. Jesus suffered
much more than we. He did it patiently,
humbly, and willingly, not because he deserved it but for our sake. He suffered that we might be freed of the
self-absorption that grips us. Now we
should be ready to suffer with him for the sake of others.
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