Everyone wants to be healthy and to live well. In other words, nobody wants pain, illness, or unhappiness. Why is this so? Why do we wish to avoid the opposite? Why do we avoid pain and suffering? Why do we not choose to be sadists?
“My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me,” was Christ’s prayer before His Passion (Mt. 26:39). You see, even Christ wished to avoid “trouble”! In this human expression, He showed us what human nature desires. Our nature does not want to suffer or be tortured, but rather to have a pleasant and joyful life.
God made man to enjoy and rejoice, without illnesses and troubles. God created man to be healthy and happy.
However, man (Adam) sinned and “ruined” everything God had given him. Sin brought death, illness, and so on. It was never in man’s nature to become ill and die, but to enjoy life and rejoice. And that is why all people want to have health and comfort, while, on the contrary, nobody wants to be ill or suffer. Nobody!
We refuse to willingly listen to Christ’s joyful words of salvation that speak of the cross and of pain: “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mk. 8:34–35).
Because sorrows and troubles are foreign to human nature, we “break down” when we face such undesirable situations, even though we may possess faith. For example:
The Virgin Mary searched for three days to find her twelve-year-old Son, Jesus. At that time she was extremely worried. “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously,” she said to Him (Lk. 2:48). Of course, the Virgin Mary was not an unbeliever. But her faith was not “able” to overcome this natural human characteristic.
Before His Passion, even Christ Himself was in such agony that He could hardly pray. He interrupted His prayer and went to His disciples for comfort… (Mt. 26:36–45). Because of His great agony, His sweat became like blood (Lk. 22:44), showing exactly what human nature is.
We repeat: no matter how great someone is, no matter how educated, how wealthy, how glorious, how powerful (even if he rules the entire world), no matter how good a Christian he is, there are moments (sorrows, troubles!) when he is brought to his knees.
“Father, unfortunately, you have cancer,” a doctor said to a truly virtuous priest. The doctor was so upset that he almost lost consciousness. When the priest witnessed the doctor’s reaction, he too was shaken. That is exactly how man is.
More in the series on sufferings: Sufferings Through the Eyes of St. Basil the Great
Leave a Reply