A Sunday Thought About The "Sacrament" of Pain

For this Sunday, we delve into the "Sacrament" of Pain. These thoughts come to us from Fr. Francis P. LeBuffe, S.J. 

Oh, and the "S.J." shouldn't put us off. He's of the brotherhood of Jesuits that stood tall with St. Ignatius for so many centuries, until the modernist worm ate the insides of this once great order steadily through the 20th century. So many wonderful spiritual thoughts were penned by those faithful Jesuits of old. 

(And, in all fairness, there are some few who do in fact remain faithful to the true Jesuit tradition.)

But back to today's Sunday thoughts. Father meditates on the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Yes, it's the same feast we typically celebrate as "The Presentation in the Temple" on February 2nd. For some reason the traditional "Purification" has been seen by our post-Vatican II Shepherds as somehow problematic. But we'll just set that aside for now and get to this "Sacrament" of Pain. 

With Mary at the center of our attention, we find her confronted by those daunting words of Simeon. 

We all suffer from time to time with pain. Some of us have pain that continues on and on. Whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, pain is simply part of our days and nights during our sojourn in this Vale of Tears. 

Father's words bring us face to face with Mary's pain. And as we learn of this, maybe even feel a bit of it, perhaps we can find in her a source of consolation in our own pain. At the very least, we will learn how pain can be a powerful source of sanctification for all of us, helping us to grow closer to God. 

“Mary stood within the Temple precincts and, as she received her Baby Jesus back into her arms, she heard the future’s hidden story told her dimly by holy Simeon: ‘And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed.’ Strange words for the Mother of God! Yes, strange in a way, but Mother Mary had long since known that pain of mind and heart is the price of being near to God. Gabriel’s Incarnation message had filled her soul with prudent questionings; Joseph’s manifest worry made her run to God for help; Caesar’s edict had meant mile upon mile of weary traveling, and Herod’s cruelty had made her hold her Infant God protectingly in her arms. Pain had been her share since she became God’s Mother, and now God’s prophet drew aside a bit the veil that hides the future – and pain, more pain is there. Thus it was with her whom Christ loved as only the Man-God could love His Mother. He had it in His Heart to want to give her what was best and He had it in His power to give it. And what did He give? The sacrament of pain. 

“What a mystery is pain! To find a young life thrown bruised and bleeding on the highway of the world or lying whitened and palsied on its weary bed while companions awaken echoes with their merry laughter; to see the tear-dimmed eye of the mother fearful for her wayward child; to mark the careworn brow of the father to whom men deny the pittance that would keep gaunt hunger from his little ones; to watch the faded dreams of the young and the cheated hopes of the old – what can it all mean? Where can the answer to this ancient riddle be? We know the answer and it was God Himself who taught us. Hard it is, so very hard, to bear with pain, and Christ our Lord knew this. He knew man’s fallen nature and He knew its need of pain, but He knew, too, of its constant rebellion against all that smarts and chafes, and so He sanctified pain in its every form and made it what it is – a sacrament, a giver of grace, if we but receive it aright.” -Fr. Francis P. LeBuffe, S.J.

So it is Jesus who who sanctified pain. It is Jesus who made pain a sacrament.

We'll have more of Father LeBuffe's thoughts on this Sacrament of Pain next Sunday.

 

Happy Sunday!