March 21, 2008 - Good Friday
One of the few times when we connect heart to heart to another person is when someone is suffering. The other day when an 8-year old was killed in an auto accident from the neighboring parish, I heard that her classmate who sat next to her in class remarked a day later, “She’s not here anymore.”
When we encounter someone who is suffering, our natural response is to offer them our support and in someway alleviate their suffering. And sometimes we say things like, “I know what you are going through because I experienced that in the past.” At the seminary in our pastoral counseling class we are discouraged from saying this. Why? First of all, each person’s suffering is unique. We cannot honestly say that we have been in their shoes. And second, we are putting the focus not the person who is suffering but on ourselves. In that class we were taught to first and foremost, listen. Let the person express their feelings and tell their story. Often all that a suffering person wants is a person who is willing to listen.
Jesus cried from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me.” The skeptics standing beneath the cross—the Roman soldiers and religious leaders—all they heard was deafening silence from heaven. And for them, this was a sure sign that Jesus was a phoney. Was heaven being silent? Or was God the Father, listening intently to His Beloved Son’s plea on behalf of all the children who were suffering from their sin?
(given at St. Louis King of France)
