Homily: May 29, 2026 Friday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

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 “But rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice exultantly.”

Has this ever happened to you before? When everything went wrong. There are days when I made good plans, I did my best, but my plans were overturned, my efforts came out wrong, then problems and troubles arose one after another. Those days were really frustrating, I even question Him why He didn’t come to help me and where He was when I was suffering.

In those moments, my prayers became complaints. Now looking back, those may have been the very moments when God was allowing me to unite my small suffering with Jesus on the cross.

I should be rejoicing, instead of complaining, for having the privilege to share in the sufferings of Christ.

But that is not easy. Naturally, no one welcomes suffering. Yet no one can avoid suffering. And as Christians, every little pain, hardship, difficulty or failure, can be the pebble forming our path to holiness - when we unite it with the sufferings of Jesus on the cross. Then every step on this path will not be heavy, but light with joy.

That was how the saints and martyrs did it. Their suffering was not meaningless; it purified them and drew them closer to God. Their hardship was not without joy, they looked forward to it with anticipation and it united them to Christ.

Jesus did not avoid suffering; He embraced it out of love. He knew the purpose of His suffering, the mission of His crucifixion. Through His suffering and death came the glory of the Resurrection.

Perhaps the challenge for us today is this: Can we begin to see our suffering as walking beside Jesus in His pain? 

We do not walk alone in our suffering. We do not even need to carry our cross with our own strength. Every cross carried with faith and the grace of God, brings us one step closer to His glory.

Today, let us rejoice in our suffering, because we are sharing the sufferings of Christ, and we will one day rise with Him. Amen.


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