The Catholic Difference

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One of the big themes I had chosen for the school year was Joshua 1:9, which reads, "Do not fear or be discouraged, for the Lord, your God, is with your wherever you go." Throughout the year I have been guiding students to really and truly understand that no matter what happens in life, no matter what pains and ills we go through, no matter where we end up, God is going to be with us and always looking out for us. Its a beautiful reminder I think we all need, that Joshua reminds us of: that God is constantly there with us, constantly searching for us, and never abandons us. 

Recently, I had a student that approached me and asked, "If God is with us constantly, why on earth do bad things happen to us? And if bad things happen to us, even if we believe in God, why bother believing in God if there isn't any difference?"

An intriguing and powerful question, asked by an equally smart and intriguing teenager. I listened to them expand a little bit, and began to answer, with essentially what is the rest of this blog post.

 First things first, they are right that bad things happen to all of us- believers or not. We get heartbreaks, and pain in our backs, experience grief and get pimples the night before a big presentation or the school dance. Its a fact of life that, yes, bad things do happen to us and it doesn't really seem to make sense that for the Lord who promised us life, and life abundantly (John 10:10), we would experience things that are not so abundant and which make us stressed, upset, and filled with dread. 

But the biggest difference, and I think the Catholic difference is not that we won't go through bad experiences, but that we won't go through them alone. The greatest difference is that we aren't left to our own devices, and our own wits and strengths. God knows we aren't strong enough to go through them. 

You see, Jesus came to earth and lived all that we lived- he experienced rage, sadness and grief. He experienced great parties and great dinners with friends and family. He became human and fully human. If he hadn't his sacrifice wouldn't have been all that special. We can often think that Jesus' life, desires, and temptations, were somehow easier than ours because he was also fully God. But that isn't the case. He experienced true temptations to turn away from God. He experienced true anxiety at the thought of going through with the cross. He experienced true pain in his death. It certainly wasn't easy for him because he experienced them just as we experience them. 

Why does that matter? 

The fact that Jesus experienced all that we have, means that he can relate to us. In another way, it means our God is a personal God. One who knows our pains, knows our weakness, and knows how difficult this life is. Meaning that when we turn to God he truly knows what we need in our times of great difficulties. Further, because he died on the cross, and rose from the dead, Jesus can be with us in our pain, in our sufferings. So we are never actually alone. 

Jesus invites us to pick up our daily crosses and follow him. So, we pick up our pains, our weakness, our grief, our displeasure with our boss or coworkers, our struggles in faith or relationships, and we follow him. We allow him to lead us each day - meaning that we have his support, guidance and strength each and every day. 




Yes, Jesus leads us to Golgotha and thus NEVER promises that by following him we will have an easy life. Instead, he assures us that our crosses are not the end. The empty tomb is what we are meant for. He promises us that we won't be crushed by our crosses, but that we will conquer them, and through them- when connected with him- can bring about a greater good in this world, and in our lives. 

Finally, the Catholic difference is that Jesus desired to never leave us alone, and so he gave us food for the journey. He gave us his body and blood so that we can be strengthened and so that we can lay down our crosses and be filled with his strengthening word, and nourishing body. 

The Catholic difference is a Eucharistic difference. 


MIKE


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