Being Content with Hardship

Today we hear some hard words from Paul in the second reading: I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Last night my husband and I went to the movie “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot” which tells the story of a small town that willingly took on hardship to make a difference in the lives of children by adopting those whom no one wanted in the foster care system. 

The preacher preached that following Christ is not supposed to be easy. It’s supposed to be a narrow and difficult road. God’s strength and the strength we find in our fellow community of believers is what sustains us through those hardships. The movie certainly gave a wonderful testament to that truth.

It really resonated with me, but in a hard way. Watching the hardships of low income family life in the movie was certainly not easy to watch. These families adopted child after child with their limited means, and many of those children were not easy to raise from the foster system. The experiences brought out the weakness of their humanity.

I think the most real and inspiring examples of the faith are those who willingly take on hardship for the sake of Christ’s message because they make the Gospel and Paul’s message today very real. They bring it to life. You just know these people are on the path to heaven by the way they live their lives.

These people took on hardship willingly. Would I do the same as a follower of Christ? That is the question today. A question we need to ponder in our hearts.

If I examine my heart honestly, I sometimes search for the easy way. The path of the least hardship. And so this stabs my conscience today, as it should. Did God create me just to live an easy, feel good life when others are giving so fully of themselves in a meaningful way?

I would also be remiss if I didn’t point out that one of the most despicable aspects of the movie was when the preacher went to a city church that had a $1M capital campaign going on to build up their property and for parishioners to go on an expensive trip to the Caribbean, and was denied help from the church other than a meager check from the pastor. 

Think for a moment how typical this situation is for our suburban Catholic Churches growing their enterprise rather than their Gospel outreach.  I can think of at least a handful of churches around me that have done this. Meanwhile, our poor city churches are scrambling to find funds for the endless needy people who call their church for help. 

Hardship for the sake of Christ. Is that what our Church is modeling? Is that what we are modeling? 

Time for a gut check with Paul’s second reading.