Student Daily Reflection

[478] Ephesians 4:7-16
Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4ab, 4cd-5
Luke 13:1-9

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer
The Daily Reflections

“Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means!” (Lk 13:2-3)

As a sinner and a sufferer, I am struck by the lines above that come from today’s gospel. In a simple yet concrete way, Jesus answers an age-old question: “Is suffering a punishment for something I did wrong?”

“By no means!”

No matter how many times my friends, family, and priest remind me of Jesus’ answer, this question haunts me, runs laps on a single track round and round my mind. There has to be a reason for the suffering I’m experiencing, there must have been something I did to deserve this, otherwise why would this happen to me?

As children we learn very quickly that if we misbehave, we are going to suffer the consequences of our choices. We grow up knowing, then, that bad things happen, that we suffer, when we’ve done something to deserve it. Eventually, we believe that the only possible reason we suffer is because we’ve done something wrong. But is suffering really a punishment? Do we really deserve it? Again, Jesus strongly tells us, “By no means!”

Using the example of the Galileans Pilate has killed, Jesus explains that while they did suffer greatly, they did not suffer because of something they did wrong. Their sins weren’t any worse than anyone else’s and dying wasn’t a punishment. Notice that Jesus doesn’t explain why they suffered; only that it wasn’t punishment. I can’t give you an easy answer. I don’t know why we suffer, but I do know that the One who has a plan to prosper us and not to harm us, holds our lives in His hands and whispers patiently to our hearts that our suffering is not punishment.

I firmly believe that God does not will for us to suffer; He doesn’t plan for bad things to happen to us. But He can use them to bring about beauty and joy, hope and strength, in ways that would not have been possible if we didn’t experience suffering. Suffering can teach us discipline in our faith, reveal to us who we truly are, and bring us closer to God, if only because we are clinging to Him for dear life. No matter what we suffer, we can take heart in Jesus’ firm promise that we have done nothing wrong to deserve it.