“God had one son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering.”

As iron is fashioned by fire and on the anvil, so in the fire of suffering and under the weight of trials, our souls receive that form which our Lord desires them to have.--St. Madeline Sophie Barat

(Scripture Text: Heb 12:4-7, 11-15)

Brothers and sisters:

In your struggle against sin

you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.

You have also forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children:

My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord

or lose heart when reproved by him;

for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines;

he scourges every son he acknowledges.

Endure your trials as “discipline”;

God treats you as his sons.

For what Ason” is there whom his father does not discipline?

At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain,

yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness

to those who are trained by it.

So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees.

Make straight paths for your feet,

that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed.

Strive for peace with everyone,

and for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

See to it that no one be deprived of the grace of God,

that no bitter root spring up and cause trouble,

through which many may become defiled.

Our lives can sometimes be overcome with overwhelming situations.  We may take these instances as punishments for our sins handed down by God, but that is the wrong way to look at it.  God does not punish his people; he instead disciplines them so that they may become more adept to living in his name.  As the scripture passage today states, “For whom the Lord loves; he disciplines.” 

He is merely giving us an opportunity to right the wrongs we have made in our life, and to redirect ourselves back onto His path. They are not meant to break us down, but instead to build us up. 

Unfortunately, we are tempted by these instances to question God and His actions.  We ask,  “Why did this happen to us?” or “How could He commit such a betrayal against us?”. 

Instead, we need to pray for the grace to embrace these situations as opportunities to better ourselves.