“In fact, Pope John Paul II, our beloved Holy Father in his time, when one priest came to him because he had enormous pain in his knee and needed surgery, he came to him and said, ‘Holy Father, please pray for my knee,’  John Paul smacked the priest across the face!  He said to him, ‘Don’t waste your suffering!’  You see, because we can put our suffering to work for salvation–our own, others, for the Kingdom.  

But what is it that we offer up?  We offer our pain up in union with Jesus on the cross.  You’re Catholic, Dave (the caller), right?  Yes?  Blessed be God!  And you believe when Jesus died his sacrifice was sufficient to pay for the sins of the whole word.  But, He brings us in.  He allows us to have a share in His suffering and in his mission for the world. 

For example, when we’re at Mass, and the priest invites the parishoners in the language of the Mass to offer our sufferings ‘through Him, with Him, and in Him,’ it is that we join our sufferings to the cross, which, at the Mass, as you believe is Calvary made present–not the re-sacrifice of Christ, but the re-presentation of the once for all sacrifice of Christ that happened 2000 years ago in time, brought through time, and made present on the altar. 

And, it’s the biggest thing, dear David, that led me into the Church.  To know that He died for my sins.  I put Him on the cross.  I, in effect, yelled ‘crucify Him!’ with that crowd.  He died for sin, and He died for my sins.  And, to learn that I put Him to death by my sin and that, though I caused His death, He would now receive me in the very sacrifice that He paid in order for me to have life.  It was just overwhelming for me.  So, He enables us to join with Him.  And, in a sense, though His sacrifice is sufficient, we add to it.      

I was sharing with a group of women today a story that I have shared many times, maybe [with] some of our listeners, that would help me–of thinking of a mother in the kitchen baking a chocolate cake.  She has all of the ingredients.  She is sufficient for the task.  She needs nothing and she needs no one, but into the kitchen comes her little three-year-old daughter.

‘Mommy, can I help you?’

And, love receives.  Love doesn’t say, ‘No, goodbye.  I have enough.’  Love receives.  

And, so, the mother says, ‘Sure, honey.’  

And the little girl comes and throws some egg, or flour, or stuff in the cake.  The mother didn’t need her help, but the mother receives her addition.  And, it’s a true addition. 

Our Lord on the cross died for the world.  He’s God.  He needs nothing and no one.  And, yet, He’s given us a share in redemption with Him.  He takes our sufferings–whether it’s your incredibly painful feet or even the smallest annoying cold that somebody has.  If we take that pain and we say, ‘Lord Jesus, in a sense, I have a gift to give You.  I want to give You this suffering.  And, I want You to take it, and I want You to unite it with your suffering on the cross.  And, I’m asking, dear Lord Jesus, that You would use it for ________ (and then you fill in that space).  For me, for my growth in holiness, for someone I love who needs to come back to the Church, for someone in the third world that hasn’t heard the Gospel.’  Or, just leave it with the Blessed Mother where she knows it’s needed best.  And we give it to Him.  We are offering it up.  We are offering our suffering up to the cross with our Savior.  And, He takes it, and He receives it, and He puts it to work. 

And, so, we’re not wasting our suffering.  And, what I’ve found, dear Dave, concerning when I do that myself, regardless of what the suffering is–it could be physical, emotional, whatever it is–I find that it no longer controls me.  The pain may be there or the scars from woundedness may be there.  But it no longer controls me because I feel that I can say to the devil ‘take that!’ because I put it to work and defeated, so to speak, that aspect of the fall that caused that pain. 

Now, I still have the pain, or I still have the scars, but the sting is gone because, even though it’s painful, as Jesus’ death was on the cross, it’s being put to work now for salvation and for the Kingdom. 

So, to me, it’s an incredible privilege that our Lord would allow us to offer up to Him, up to his cross, to unite our sufferings with Him for the salvation of the world.”  

“Blessed be God!  Nothing touches us that our blessed Lord doesn’t allow, so He must be on his way to making you a saint, Dave.”

“In fact, Pope John Paul II, our beloved Holy Father in his time, when one priest came to him because he had enormous pain in his knee and needed surgery, he came to him and said, ‘Holy Father, please pray for my knee,’  John Paul smacked the priest across the face!  He said to him, ‘Don’t waste your suffering!’  You see, because we can put our suffering to work for salvation–our own, others, for the Kingdom.  

But what is it that we offer up?  We offer our pain up in union with Jesus on the cross.  You’re Catholic, Dave (the caller), right?  Yes?  Blessed be God!  And you believe when Jesus died his sacrifice was sufficient to pay for the sins of the whole word.  But, He brings us in.  He allows us to have a share in His suffering and in his mission for the world. 

For example, when we’re at Mass, and the priest invites the parishoners in the language of the Mass to offer our sufferings ‘through Him, with Him, and in Him,’ it is that we join our sufferings to the cross, which, at the Mass, as you believe is Calvary made present–not the re-sacrifice of Christ, but the re-presentation of the once for all sacrifice of Christ that happened 2000 years ago in time, brought through time, and made present on the altar. 

And, it’s the biggest thing, dear David, that led me into the Church.  To know that He died for my sins.  I put Him on the cross.  I, in effect, yelled ‘crucify Him!’ with that crowd.  He died for sin, and He died for my sins.  And, to learn that I put Him to death by my sin and that, though I caused His death, He would now receive me in the very sacrifice that He paid in order for me to have life.  It was just overwhelming for me.  So, He enables us to join with Him.  And, in a sense, though His sacrifice is sufficient, we add to it.      

I was sharing with a group of women today a story that I have shared many times, maybe [with] some of our listeners, that would help me–of thinking of a mother in the kitchen baking a chocolate cake.  She has all of the ingredients.  She is sufficient for the task.  She needs nothing and she needs no one, but into the kitchen comes her little three-year-old daughter.

‘Mommy, can I help you?’

And, love receives.  Love doesn’t say, ‘No, goodbye.  I have enough.’  Love receives.  

And, so, the mother says, ‘Sure, honey.’  

And the little girl comes and throws some egg, or flour, or stuff in the cake.  The mother didn’t need her help, but the mother receives her addition.  And, it’s a true addition. 

Our Lord on the cross died for the world.  He’s God.  He needs nothing and no one.  And, yet, He’s given us a share in redemption with Him.  He takes our sufferings–whether it’s your incredibly painful feet or even the smallest annoying cold that somebody has.  If we take that pain and we say, ‘Lord Jesus, in a sense, I have a gift to give You.  I want to give You this suffering.  And, I want You to take it, and I want You to unite it with your suffering on the cross.  And, I’m asking, dear Lord Jesus, that You would use it for ________ (and then you fill in that space).  For me, for my growth in holiness, for someone I love who needs to come back to the Church, for someone in the third world that hasn’t heard the Gospel.’  Or, just leave it with the Blessed Mother where she knows it’s needed best.  And we give it to Him.  We are offering it up.  We are offering our suffering up to the cross with our Savior.  And, He takes it, and He receives it, and He puts it to work. 

And, so, we’re not wasting our suffering.  And, what I’ve found, dear Dave, concerning when I do that myself, regardless of what the suffering is–it could be physical, emotional, whatever it is–I find that it no longer controls me.  The pain may be there or the scars from wound
edness may be there.  But it no longer controls me because I feel that I can say to the devil ‘take that!’ because I put it to work and defeated, so to speak, that aspect of the fall that caused that pain. 

Now, I still have the pain, or I still have the scars, but the sting is gone because, even though it’s painful, as Jesus’ death was on the cross, it’s being put to work now for salvation and for the Kingdom. 

So, to me, it’s an incredible privilege that our Lord would allow us to offer up to Him, up to his cross, to unite our sufferings with Him for the salvation of the world.”  

“Blessed be God!  Nothing touches us that our blessed Lord doesn’t allow, so He must be on his way to making you a saint, Dave.”