The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Good Suffering and Friday

Episode Date: March 29, 2024

Is there such a thing as good suffering? On this Good Friday, Jeff Cavins discusses the real meaning of suffering and why it is important to expect suffering in life. He explains the different types of suffering and how we can suffer well so that we may be true followers of Christ. Snippet from the Show “Suffering is almost inseparable from man’s earthly existence.” -St. John Paul II Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail]. Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit ascensionpress.com/thejeffcavinsshow for full shownotes!

Welcome to the Jeff Kaven Show, where we talk about the Bible, discipleship, and evangelization, putting it all together in living as activated disciples. This is show 368, Good Suffering, and Friday. Welcome to the show, my friend. What a privilege it is for me to be with you on Good Friday. And I have a lot of information ready to give you about Good Friday, but specifically the whole topic of suffering. And right when you bring up that topic of suffering, people, you know, sometimes think, well, I don't know if I want to talk about that, but I'll tell you what. If you can get a hold of the meaning of suffering, the purpose of suffering in your life, it

will revolutionize not only Good Friday, but it will revolutionize your life. This is something, I got to tell you, I feel so strongly about this, this idea of understanding redemptive suffering was something that I did not have for so long in my life. And I was 12 years a pastor outside of the Catholic Church, and I could not make sense out of the suffering. It was only when I came back to the Catholic Church that everything came into focus. And I want to help you in understanding. a little bit of that today. And if you can take some notes, maybe you want to go to church

and think before you go a little bit about Good Friday and the meaning of it and the meaning of suffering. Because, you know what, I know that I know you've gone through different kinds of suffering, whether it's physical suffering or the suffering of the heart, which we're going to discuss here in just in a moment. And one of the things that makes a person lonely is when they feel like they are alone in their suffering and nobody understands what they are going through. I've been there. I have really been there with some intense physical suffering in my life. Almost 20 years ago, a split disc in my neck, C-6-7, and I ended up having an emergency

surgery after nine months of trying to treat it and a lot of pain along the way. And so when I talk about suffering, I guess you could say, I know what I'm talking about talking about here. And in fact, I wrote a book called When You Suffer, Biblical Keys for Hope and Understanding. That's a book that I would highly recommend that you get. If you want to understand from a lay level the meaning of redemptive suffering and how you can actually take your suffering and apply it in a good way. And that's why I called this particular show today good suffering. I didn't say good Friday, good suffering and Friday. You say, what's good about suffering, Jeff? Well, let's look at it. Let's look. Let's look.

look at, and let's make that determination. Was Jesus suffering for our sins good? Was it for our good, our eternal good? Absolutely. Fun? No. Desirable? Not really. But it's love. Pure love. Hey, if you do want the notes, you're not getting the notes to the show. All you got to do is write my name, Jeff Kaven's one word, and text it to the number 3377. Biblical. 3-3-7-7. So it's the number of the Trinity and the number of covenant. We like that here. Okay, so let's take a look at some kind of broad issues on suffering right now. And then what I'm going to do is I'm going to give you some of the logic of redemptive suffering in the cross. And I have literally, and I don't think I've ever done this before, I have all of the scriptures that I typically use to talk about suffering and all of the quotes from, from John Paul II on suffering, and they're going to be yours, if you want them in the show notes.

They're totally yours, absolutely free. I believe in being generous and give people all of it so that you can study it and you can meditate upon it. You know, we have all experienced one thing, and that is suffering, no matter what. You've been suffering one degree or another. Divorce, cancer, loss of a child, spouse, parents, lost job, car X, humiliation at school, the target of gossip, the house burned down, heart problems, sunburn. There's a lot of different ways that suffering comes our way. And the question isn't if you're going to suffer. You are going to suffer in this life to one degree or another, but the question

is, how will you suffer well or poorly? And it has been suggested that some of Jesus' closest disciples missed the passion because it was not what they had expected. It's not what they were looking for. And I would submit to you that that is true of our lives as well, that we are not looking for the suffering. We're not expecting the suffering. In fact, we are expecting something that is unrealistic, and that is a bowl of cherries for life and no problems at all. And that's why it becomes rather painful and we feel a little bit like we're not prepared because we weren't expecting this to come our way. We may even ask, why me, why now in my life? So for many of us, this is the case, right? We're aiming at a house in the suburbs, a picket fence, two cars and three

kids. We're not expecting to lose the job or get cancer or have that accident, are we? So on your wedding day, you didn't have this problem in mind that you're dealing with right now. It wasn't part of your future. But sure enough, it is part of your present. Now, there's one particular issue that I want to go over with you that keeps people from understanding suffering in light of the topic of happiness. Everybody wants to be happy. Let's face it. The ancient question was, in the end of life, like Aristotle's answer, happiness. What is the end of life? Happiness, and that was Aristotle's answer.

Happiness is what we seek. But the question is, what is happiness? How do you judge or how do you gauge happiness in your life? The meaning of the word happiness has changed since Aristotle's time. Today we define happiness as something wholly subjective, a feeling. I am happy. when I feel happy. I am happy when I feel something.

Everything is right. There's a vibe to life that is just, wow, I'm in the zone. I'm happy. Now, the pre-modern writers meant that happiness was an objective state. First of all, not merely a subjective feeling. I'll say that again. The pre-modern writers meant that happiness was an objective state, first of all,

merely a subjective feeling. And the Greek word for happiness literally means good spirit or good soil. To be happy is to be good. Okay. Now that is a concept that is so foreign to modern man. For modern man, what gives his life meaning feeling good? The ancient idea of happiness came from doing good. That if you do good, the result is going to be happiness. And in the modern setting, it's feeling good. But the problem with feeling good as the key to happiness is that can totally be out of your hands. You have nothing to say about that. The ancient's answer is being good. Feeling good is not compatible with suffering today, is it? And being good is though. So what we've done in the modern setting is we have set ourselves up for failure.

if we are going to say that I'm happy when I feel good, well, you're walking on thin ice. But if you're happy when you do good, well, then you can be happy in any situation. And that's an important point in understanding suffering. Furthermore, the most popular modern answer to the question of what it means to be good is to be kind. so if we're talking about doing good what does that mean well most people in the modern setting would say that doing good is being kind don't make others suffer prevent people from suffering keep bad things out of their way make sure your children never fall and you know and bruise their elbows

or scuff their knees but listen by this standard and that standard being what does it mean to be good means to be kind. That's the modern. That is not true. That's what modern man says to be kind. And to be kind means to make sure that people are not suffering. But by the standard, God is not good if he lets you suffer. He's not good if he lets you suffer. And there in lies the crux. There is the problem. There is the question. If God loves me, that must mean he doesn't want me to suffer. That equation has landed. many people in despair. If God loves me, he wouldn't let me suffer. You know what, though? Think about it for a moment. If you've got kids, is that the way you raise them? Do you raise them that you're not going to let them suffer at all in any way whatsoever? You know what we call that? Spoiling them.

Helicopter mom, helicopter dad, making sure that they never are happy. I got news for you. you're going to stunt their growth in a really bad and unproductive way. It isn't normal. It isn't right. It isn't love. So by this standard, God is not good if he lets you suffer, but by ancient standards, God might be good even though he lets us suffer. If he does it for the sake of the greater end of happiness.

Now, Peter Crave talks about this. In fact, I'm borrowing some of his words here. I want to give him credit for that. He's a brilliant man. By this standard, God is not good if he lets us suffer. But by ancient standards, God might be good even though he lets us suffer if, I'll get this. If he does it for the sake of the greater end of happiness, perfection of life, character, and soul. Oh, that's beautiful. Well put. Dr. Peter Crave. So, suffering did not refute the ancient's mind, the mind's belief in a good God. Say that again. So suffering did not refute the ancient mind's belief in a good God because a good God might well sacrifice our subjective happiness for our objective happiness. You know what? An immature child might not understand that.

But we were once children and thought like children, but now we are men, now we are women, and it's time to think as men and women. So the modern mind finds it hard to make that distinction between subjective happiness and objective happiness. Therefore, it finds it hard to believe in a God, a good God, who lets us suffer. There you go. That's the equation right there. Modern man finds it hard to believe in a good God who lets us suffer because if he loved us,

He would make sure that we were not suffering. He would be kind to us. As Peter Crafe says, a quick reflection on human parenting tells us that we know deep down that the ancient mind is right. Parents who want only freedom from suffering for their children are not wise parents. You know, I like what Paul says. Paul's view of life, and I would suggest we adopt it, is that, and I'm quoting from Romans 828, we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called

according to his purpose. Romans 828, isn't that beautiful? It's so beautiful. I'm going to say it again. We know that all things work together for good. Why don't you just say that with me? Just say it. If you're in the car, you're jogging or you're at the mall walking around with the earbuds in, just say it with me. we know that all things work together. Go ahead. We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. So as Pope John Paul II said in his fantastic document, Salvifichy Dolores, on the meaning of human suffering, get it.

He said suffering is almost inseparable from, man's earthly existence. Now, I want to set this up here for a moment before we take our break. I want to go through two kinds and two types of suffering real quickly and see if you fit into either of those categories. Now, John Paul II, who is the master of teaching suffering, I believe, right along with St. Augustine, he said, there are two different kinds of suffering. There's physical suffering, and that's when the body is hurting. Not much explanation needs to be given there. You know what physical suffering is. It's falling. It is a broken leg. It's a broken arm. It's a disease. It's blindness suddenly. It is a headache. It's, you name it. There's so many

varieties of suffering. And then he says, not only is there physical suffering, but there's moral suffering. And that is when the soul hurts. That's the hurt of the heart. It's rejection. It is being lied to. It is somebody betraying you. It is somebody ruining your reputation with an email or something online. Oh, it's terrible. And John Paul II said that most people would rather, you know, go for physical suffering than moral suffering any day. And I know that's true in my life. Give me a broken leg any day before a broken heart.

Are you in on that? You would agree, probably, right? Yeah. I think most people would. Break my leg, but don't break my heart. Now, there's a country song in the making. The Old Testament is filled with examples of suffering, particularly moral suffering. We have in the Bible the danger of death, the death of a child, infertility, longing for the

homeland of Canaan, mockery and scorn, loneliness, and abandonment, difficulty understanding why the wicked prosper, the unfaithfulness of friends and neighbors. Christ had compassion for people with both physical suffering. and the moral suffering, the suffering of the heart. Now listen to what he says in this document. He said there are two different kinds of suffering, but there's also two different types of suffering. Now remember this. When we go to church and you get to venerate the cross, all of this should come to mind and it will enhance your experience and it will bring you to a new level of maturity with the Lord in your suffering. Suffering will either cause you to be immature.

or mature. So John Paul II says, not only are there two kinds, but there's two different types. Number one, temporal suffering. Now, this is due to the consequences of sin, suffering, illness, death, temporal suffering. But then he goes on and he says something very interesting in paragraph 14 of Sal Vifichy Dolores. You want this, I'll put all this in the notes for you, okay? He says that there's a second type of suffering called definitive suffering. JP2 says man perishes. When he loses eternal life, the opposition of salvation is not therefore only temporal suffering and a kind of suffering, but the definitive suffering, the loss of eternal life, being rejected by God damnation. The only begotten son was given to humanity primarily to protect man against this definitive evil and against definitive suffering.

Wow. Okay, so I'm going to take a break when I come back. I am going to unload a package of scriptures and quotes from John Paul II that is going to weave a narrative that is going to give you hope and meaning in your suffering. And perhaps this suffering day, this good Friday that right now we're calling good suffering in Friday, it will be totally different. It'll change. You're listening to the Jeff Kaven show. Hi, my name's Father Mike Schmitz. I want to let you know about an exciting announcement that could revolutionize the way you listen to the Bible in the year and the catechism in the year. Ascension has released a new Bible and catechism app called the Ascension app.

Now, here's what you get. In this app, you get the entire text of the Great Adventure Bible. Just incredible. You also get the entire text of the catechism of the Catholic Church, as long with the Catechism in a year podcast and the Bible in year podcast and transcripts for each episode. If you're like, I'm tired of listening to that guy, I just want to read it. There's a complete transcripts from each and every episode. One thing that makes this app incredibly unique is that it includes special features that they make connections between the Bible and the Catechism so crystal clear through color-coded references and all these links.

The hyperlinks are amazing. I tried it out and I'm like, oh my gosh, it kind of has changed the way I read through the Catechism, kind of changed the way I read through the Bible. These features will help you navigate the Bible and Catechism even more seamlessly so you can get more out of your experience. Also, the app provides almost 1,000 answers to Bible questions. The people who listen to the Bible in the year, they wrote in with their questions. Almost 1,000 answers.

And those answers come in the form of audio clips, video clips, as well as resources excerpted from some of Ascension's published works. If you want to download this app for free, super simple. Just go to the app store and search for Ascension app. I am telling you, if learning about the Bible and the catechism is important to you, then this app will change your life. Welcome back. We're talking about good suffering in Friday, and we are attempting to bring some meaning to your suffering. So in this second half, what I'd like to do is tell you the theological

reasoning behind your suffering and why your suffering is valuable. Now, when Jesus died for the sins of the world, that was love. He laid down his life. It was his decision. It was an act of the will. Nobody took his life from him. He gave it away. He laid down his life for you and he laid his life down for me. Now the key to understanding our suffering, this is important, the key to understanding our suffering is understanding his suffering. And, you know, when you think about it, I guess there are many ways that he could have loved the world. There's many ways, I guess, that he could have redeemed us, I imagine he could have done anything and said it was so, but I can't go there. Why? Because he went somewhere else. He did something. He demonstrated his

love. And let me ask you this. Do you think God demonstrated his love for you and me in a random way, or do you think he thought about it and said, this is the way that I can most perfectly love you? I'll give my life for you. I will die for you. I will pay for your sins. I will redeem you. I will redeem your soul, your body. I will even redeem your suffering. Now, there are two different ways of looking at suffering, and I'll make this quick. There is one way, which is a very American way of looking at suffering and looking at the cross. When you look at the cross today and you go to church, if you've done that already look back, but if you're going to go later today or any day, then look forward. And this is the important thing, is that we see the cross and the suffering of Christ

and redemption the way he intended it rather than an American style of it. So number one, there's an American style of being the church and our relationship to his suffering, and that is we receive, receive, receive the benefits. We are king's kids. You know, God has the cattle of a thousand hills. I'm the head and not the tail. Bless God, I can have what I say. Oh my gosh, it's time to grow up.

That is one way of looking at it, and that is that Jesus died for me so that I wouldn't have to suffer or have any kind of disease, and I can claim that. The problem with that, though, is it's not in the Bible. It isn't biblical at all. that I would simply be the receiver. Now, the other side of this coin is the biblical way.

I'm going to give you the scriptures, too. If anyone ever says, well, where is it biblical? Where do you come up with that? I'm going to give it to you. But the other side of that coin is that it's not me, me, me, and I receive, receive, receive. It is participate, participate, participate. Yes, Jesus is the son of God. Yes, he is the king of kings.

Yes, he is their intercessor between God and man. He's all these things. He is the judge in the end. And he is the counselor. He is the healer. He is the one who suffered and died for us on the cross. But then what's our role? We participate.

Here's one of the secrets, is that every aspect of Jesus' messianic mission is not for him alone, but he shares every aspect with us. Why? Because we are the body of Christ. And Jesus, the head shares everything with the body. And so is there one intercessor between God and man, the man Jesus Christ? Yes, but he shares that with us. And he says, intercede for one another. Pray in my name. Lay hands on the sick. Is he the healer? Yes. He shares. that with us. Is he the great counselor? Yes, he shares that with us. Is he the great high priest? Yes, but he shares the priesthood with us, both the clerical and the laity in a form of the priesthood. I can go on and on, but then we move to the topic of suffering. He suffered for the sins of the

world. So what's my part? He shares his suffering with us. Whoa, but why? Why? Why? Why would he share his suffering with me? I thought he did it all so I wouldn't have to. That was your mistake and mine, because I've made it before many times. That mindset that says Jesus did it so I don't have to is simply not in the Bible. Jesus suffered for the sins of the world and he loves you so much. He wants you to know that love. Now hold that right there for a moment.

You're going to like this. Colossians 1.24 says, now I rejoice in my sufferings. This is Paul. Now I rejoice in. Paul, already, you rejoice in your suffering? Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake. And in my flesh, I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body. That is the church. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. Let's take that apart a second. rejoice in my suffering for your sake. I don't know if I'm on the same page there, Paul. Now, I rejoice in my suffering for your sake? And in my body, I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions. Oh, boy, what could possibly be lacking in Christ's afflictions?

Well, that question was asked of St. Augustine and St. Pope John Paul II. St. Augustine said, what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ is this, the suffering of the mystical body of Christ. That's you and that's me. But that begs a question, why would you and I have to suffer? Why would we get to suffer? Why? Now listen to this. Saint Pope John Paul II and answered this question in spades. In paragraph 27 of Salvifici Dolores, listen to this now. This will blow your mind. He says,

The springs of divine power gush forth precisely in the midst of human weaknesses. Those who share in the sufferings of Christ, preserved in their own sufferings, a very special particle of the infinite treasure of the world's redemption. Get this now. and can share this treasure with others. So the answer to the question, why would I be invited to suffer with Christ? Why would there be room in Jesus' suffering for me to participate?

Why? Here it is. Because he wants you to experience love. He wants you to know what the love of the cross is all about. It's not theoretical. It's not just a theological point. It's not pie in the sky. he wants you to know the love. And so he makes room in his sufferings for you to participate with yours. And when you offer up your suffering with Jesus on the cross, you participate with him

and you love the way he loved. You offer yourself as Jesus did. And I got to tell you, and I don't have time today to go into the whole story, but this happened to me. This happened to me when I offered up my suffering when it was the worst and I offered it up for my daughters. And I got down next to their bed and I prayed to God and I said, God, I offer it up for my daughters. And I got to tell you, a joy came into my heart like I have never known before. Why? Because I was loving my daughters the way Christ loved them. I was offering up my suffering. My friend, you can see what a gem we have here, what a treasure we have. I remember one lady by the name of Margaret about 100 years ago.

She said something so beautiful. She said that in your suffering, you possess a very special coin that can purchase what cannot be bought. You can't buy the salvation of your grandkids, but you can offer up your suffering for them. In your suffering, you have a very special coin. Now let me give you just a few scriptures here real quick that back all of this up. And what I'm saying is on Good Friday, today, when you go to church and you look at that cross and you venerate that cross, you go up and you touch that cross if you want, you can hug the cross, kiss the cross, whatever you want to do to express your love for Christ and the cross, know this, that he has made room in his suffering for you to participate in whatever you're going through. as far as physical suffering or moral suffering, please know you can join that suffering with Christ today on Good Friday, and he redeems your suffering. He makes it new, and you can even apply

the graces of that to a loved one. Oh, this is so good. I wish all of my Protestant friends. I really do. I'm saying this all loud. Oh, I long for the day when they would see that and realize that it's in the context of the holy sacrifice of the Mass, that we really see this come into big, big focus. Romans 828, Paul said, we know that all things work together for the good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. My friend, even your suffering.

It all works together for the good. In Hebrews 12.5, the scripture says, My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by him. Were you aware that Paul was going through some serious suffering? And he went to the Lord, and he asked the Lord to remove this thorn in the flesh. Some people think it was an eye problem. He had some kind of eye problem, but we don't know for sure,

but he sure was facing something repeatedly. And he asked God, please take it away. And you know what the Lord said to him in 2 Corinthians 129? The Lord said, my grace is sufficient for you, Paul. for power is perfected in weakness. Oh, wow. Power is perfected. Not on the beach in Florida with drinking a beer.

Power is perfected in weakness. And then Paul also went on in 2 Corinthians 4. He said, we are afflicted in every way but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair, persecuted but not forsaken. struck down but not destroyed, always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For while we will live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

Wow, knowing that he who raised the Lord will raise us also with Jesus. Oh, this is so good. It's like gourmet stuff. Second Corinthians 1-5, for as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. The two go together, don't they? In Romans 80, he said, we are fellow heirs with Christ. Now, you could stop there and just confess that all day long if you want to, and that's fine, but we are fellow heirs with Christ, but I would encourage you read the rest of the verse. We are fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him. That does not sound like an American gospel. I'm sorry, it doesn't. Provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us. And Peter goes along with this too, the other super-apostle. 1. Peter 4.13, rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. It's so good. Oh, for the sake of time, you know what I'm going to do. I'm going to put some more notes in here. I'm not going to read them. Got some other quotes from Peter and Hebrews. I'm just going to put them in the notes for you. So you got some extra verses that you get to enjoy there. Now, John Paul II was a champion of this, and I already shared with you his paragraph 27, where the springs of divine power gush forth precisely in the midst of human

suffering. But he also said a few other things about suffering that I think are very powerful. He said, this is an extremely important aspect of suffering. It is profoundly rooted in the entire revelation of the old and above all the new covenant. Suffering must serve for conversion. You can run from it. You can deny it. You can speak it away. That suffering must serve for conversion, that is, for the rebuilding of goodness in the subject. My friend, on this Good Friday, you got the opportunity to do some rebuilding of goodness in your heart, and suffering serves for conversion. In the cross of Christ, not only is the redemption accomplished through suffering, but get this, paragraph 19 of Salvifici Dolores,

but also human suffering itself has been redeemed. Your suffering, has been made new and powerful. He also went on in paragraph 27, and he said, It is suffering, oh, this is so good. When a Pope says something like this, I mean, it's time to stand up straight and listen. He says, it is suffering more than anything else, which clears the way for the grace which transforms human souls.

Now, when a saint says, it is suffering, comma, more than anything else, comma, we want to follow. we want to follow up to the rest of the sentence. It is suffering more than anything else which clears the way for the grace which transforms human souls. Want to be transformed? Clear the way for the grace.

How? In your suffering, offer it up. You must decrease. He must increase. And then he also said down through the centuries and generations it has been seen that in suffering there is concealed a particular power

that draws a person interiorly close to Christ, a special grace. And then one last one, you'll like this. For suffering cannot be transformed and changed by the grace from outside, but from within. And Christ, through his own self, that the suffering is very much present in every human suffering can and act from within that suffering by the powers of his spirit of truth, his consoling spirit paragraph. 26. I think I actually missed a word there, but it'll be in the notes. So there is tons of Bible verses,

tons of church writings that really back up this idea that Jesus died for you and he made room in his suffering, not that anything was incomplete, like he didn't come up with 98% of the suffering, 100%, but that you might know what love is. He made room in his suffering for his sons and daughters, for God's sons and daughters to come in and participate and get to know. So from the beginning, man has been plagued by the question of suffering, and we can't figure out why God would let bad things happen to good people. And as we go throughout salvation history, we see several purposes for suffering,

but it isn't until we come to Christ that we fully understand the full redemptive dimension of suffering. Christ Jesus conquered suffering by love. love. And that's what he wants you to come in touch with. Because we are joined to him. Our suffering takes on redemptive value. Paul understood this. Our lady understood this. Now we have the choice to love as he loves and understand this. Through the sacrifice of the Mass, we can join our sufferings to Christ's sufferings, to fill that which is lacking in his afflictions for the sake of the church, to embrace our sufferings and love like God

that the altar of the new covenant is the only place where our sufferings make sense. My friend, it is only in this new covenant that our sufferings make sense. And finally, through a mystery that can only be known through experience because Pope John Paul II said, he said, you cannot teach suffering in the objective.

It is a vocation. Come follow me. come follow me. So through a mystery, through a mystery that can only be known through experience, our trials are turned into joy. And that joy is our strength. We, as a people of God, have learned that in the time of trial, His grace, that is, the life of the Trinity, is sufficient for every situation. Through suffering, we reach out to God in prayer. He increases and we decrease. And Paul said, I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means. And I also know how to live in prosperity in any and every circumstance.

I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, Philippians 4, 11 through 13. My friend, let's pray. Let's pray. I know you need to get to church. And when you get there, just take this message with you. You take a couple of points from it. Maybe a quote. And may this year be different as you join yourself to the cross of Christ and learn what love is and use it for loved ones. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Lord, I thank you so much for revealing this mystery to us today. I thank you, Lord, for loving us and suffering for us, dying for our sin. We want to know what love is. We want to know what love is, Lord. And so thank you for giving us an opportunity to

join our suffering with you. And so, Lord, now, we prepare ourselves for Good Friday. We think about those that we want to offer up our suffering with as we embrace the cross. and may we go to Good Friday with a sense of holiness and purpose. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. I love you. Have a phenomenal Good Friday.