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Surabaya Sharing
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 THE
JOY OF SUFFERING
- By Bombet Malinao
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My scheduled one-week Philippine vacation stretched to
three weeks because I had to take care of my mother who had a bilateral
hip replacement operation. This procedure, which normally would have
sent her home after a week, became three weeks because she developed
adhesions of the small intestines. This required another operation.
Imagine two major operations involving three wounds within one week for
a 74-year old woman! The operations lasted only a few hours, but the
recovery process is long and agonizing.
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It’s a pity that someone her age and with a very low pain
threshold would have to go through such suffering.
 She
grimaced at the slightest pain…a needle prick for blood tests, IV
insertions, the irritating sensation of having a catheter, the pain and
discomfort of a long tube inside her nose to drain the fluid from her
stomach. Then, there is the agony of seeing her vomit green liquid
(bile, they said) and dropping helplessly after. And all these while
she cannot move her lower extremities because of her newly installed hip
bones.
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I was asking so many questions…why did this happen when
only last January, she was ballroom dancing during their
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Golden Wedding Anniversary celebration… why do old people
still have to suffer pain despite the many pains and difficulties they
have gone through in their lives…why did it happen at that time when my
daughter (her eldest grandchild) was due to graduate from medical school
and she would have wanted to see her at the PICC stage. There were so
many whys. Then one day, I just realized…it was Lent and we were
spending the Holy Week in the hospital. Maybe, God wanted us to be
closely united with Him during this time.
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Then, I read, SUFFERING IS A GIFT WE SHOULD ASK FOR.
Jesus Christ did not conquer the world through force or power, although
He could easily have done so. He endured the pains of the scourging at
the pillar, of the crown of thorns, the weight of the heavy cross upon
His bleeding shoulders and the nails upon His hands and feet. He saved
the world through His suffering and death. What better way is there
to unite ourselves with Him than to bear our own sufferings!
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My stay in the hospital for three weeks then assumed
a deeper meaning. I whispered to my mom that she should bear her pain
courageously and offer it up for the reparation of sins. My own
personal discomforts (waking up in the middle of the night, cleaning her
up, etc.) became simple joys as I tried to offer them up to the Lord.
If by these deeds I can lighten the burden of the heavy Cross… dear
Lord, give me more sufferings. From this experience, I learned that
suffering should be viewed, not as a penalty for doing something wrong,
but as a chance to be united with the Lord’s own suffering and be His
co-redeemer in saving man from sin. We should therefore not complain
when we suffer but lift up our sufferings to the Lord. After realizing
this, I thought that having experienced all these sufferings
during Lent, we were truly blessed.
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Note:
Remember Fatima, the girl with a kidney ailment who was undergoing
dialysis five times a day (The Miracle of Fatima)? She found a
kidney donor and had a kidney transplant. She is now living a
healthier life. Praise God!
- TELL US LIKE IT IS!
- Has something
wonderful and unique happened in your life lately? Did God answer your
prayer in a very unexpected way? Did you, like Isaiah, meet God’s
whisper?
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powerful hand working in your life recently?
- Everyday, people are
experiencing God’s mighty Word in their lives and it is a pity that very
few know about it. Do you have a story to tell? Some Good News to
share?
- E-mail us (genesis@catholic.org) or fax us
(021-6627384), and tell us about it. That’s right! You don’t have to be
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it is!
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