Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Sick Pilgrim

Home
Catholic
Bear One Another’s Burdens This Election Day.

Bear One Another’s Burdens This Election Day.

Last updated on: November 7, 2016 at 7:00 pm by Jonathan Ryan

Bear One Another’s Burdens This Election Day. 2016-11-07T19:00:39-05:00 Jonathan Ryan

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Bear one another as He bore for you. Photo an Painting Credit: Jonathan Ryan

I looked around at my fellow Confirmands, most of them hiding zits with heavy doses of foundation cream. Others wore too much makeup, perfume or cologne. The boys checked out the girls in their bright colored dresses and the girls looked at the boys who probably wore the first suit they had ever worn in their lives, other than the cheap tuxes a couple might have worn as ring bearers in relatives’ weddings.

Being confirmed with junior high kids didn’t bother me. But, it made me realize I knew no one at the church other than my sponsor, and I didn’t even know him very well. We’d been acquaintances through various churches in Columbus, Ohio, but didn’t hang out that much. When I couldn’t find anyone else, I asked him to stand with me and he graciously agreed.

As I processed up the aisle to receive the oil of Chrism, I thought about why no one joined me for this huge transition in my life. My marriage was about to end. Most of my old Protestant friends didn’t talk to me anymore. No one would take me out for a beer afterward. In other words, my entrance into the church didn’t come with joy and celebration. It came with an intense period of spiritual suffering that I’m still sorting through.

For awhile, I thought that I was alone in my faith journey. I believed that I bravely made a courageous step forward even though “none went with me.” The reality is, I didn’t grasp the full meaning of my Confirmation. Instead of rejoicing that I’d been brought into the family of God, I doubled down on my own spiritual pain and focused on licking my wounds.

Spiritual suffering can lock us into our own heads and hearts like nothing else. If you’ve ever gone through your soul being wrecked, your faith ripped up like cheap clothes or your heart for Jesus torn out of your chest, you know what I mean. We can and often do lock ourselves into internal dungeons that we never want to leave. In my first year in South Bend, I often found myself sitting my living room, even on bright sunny days, just staring at the T.V., not remembering anything I watched.

Usually, when spiritually inclined people experience normal suffering, they turn to God for comfort and peace. But, spiritual pain is so much worse because God and all that spirituality stuff is the main source of the problem. Going to mass (or church) or praying seems like making contact with the very last Being you want talk to in the universe. And we often believe that we are alone and must bear it alone. If we tell someone, they might be shocked and appalled. We let all of that stop us from reaching out for help, afraid it won’t be there.

The reality is, all of us suffer spiritually. And spiritual suffering is the one kind of pain we actually can share with one another. Sharing someone’s physical pain is almost impossible. Every time my kids get sick or hurt, I want it to be me. I want to bear their suffering and pain. But I can’t.

However, that is not the case with spiritual suffering. We can literally bear one another’s burdens, as Jesus commands. St Paul even goes so far as to say in Colossians that his suffering for the church fills up what is lacking in Christ’s suffering. A strange comment, but if you consider his teaching that we are all a part of the Body of Christ and the Eucharist itself, it makes sense.

The Protestant writer and theologian Charles Williams believed we really could take on a person’s suffering, if we chose to do so in our own free will. His letters are filled with requests for other people to take on someone’s suffering for awhile. At first, this seems like a strange, even crazy, idea. But, he points out that if we are truly joined in the Body of Christ, who suffered for us, we can participate in suffering for others.

Indeed, the idea of Purgatory, prayers for the dead and other substitutionary Catholic teachings are founded on the belief that we are connected to each other in very real and substantial ways.

As I wrote in my Halloween piece, Christ’s death and resurrection unites us all in the Eucharist. And, that means we are a community, not in a superficial “book club” way, but in a deep, profound and marriage bed sort of way. Yes, this does seem strange, but that is the level of intimacy described. This means we’re all bound together – everyone from cool Catholic hipsters to right and left wing Catholics, little old ladies, white men, black men, gays, women, and anyone I might have missed in that litany of sinners.

Most of the time, we’re focused on correcting each other. In the debates of this election season, we’ve seen very little burden bearing. Instead, we see accusations, finger pointing and lack of mercy. And, no one, including myself, has been immune.

We need to practice our connectedness in concrete, profound ways. We often ask people if we can pray for them. Do we ask them if we can suffer for them? For example, if a person is suffering anxiety about his marriage, what if we actually say, “I’ll take your anxiety for awhile. When you’re tempted to be anxious, just remember I’m being anxious for you.”

Yes, it does seem crazy and strange. But, it also fights against the idea we are alone in our faith or that we die alone. There is nothing glorious or noble about it. If we are Christians, we’re part of a huge, dysfunctional family brought together by the Father’s love. We also have people who are called to suffer with us.

A few years ago, I went to mass on the Samson Cree reservation in Alberta, Canada. The mass was led by a Filipino priest in broken English and he spoke the Our Father in Cree. I looked around at my First Nation Brothers and sisters. I seemed to see their whole history full of pain and suffering, some of it brought on by the very church they attended through the Catholic Church’s participation in the forced reeducation of First Nation children. But, the Church repented and got down on its knees to suffer with those who hurt. Through the pain and suffering, redemption is coming. They filled up what was lacking in Christ’s suffering.

The Church must do a better job at entering into people’s spiritual suffering. I’m not talking about starting grand, spectacular programs. We’ve got enough of those. Just ask a friend, family member or parish member: How can I suffer for you today?

So, for the election, instead of throwing and slinging mud, let’s ask each other, “how can I bear your suffering and fear today?”

Previous Post

November 7, 2016

Pornography, the Election, and the Problem of a Woman in Power

Next Post

November 9, 2016 We Keep Ramblin' On... (Some Post-Election Thoughts)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent Approaching Mystery art Book Reviews Catholic Ghost Story Catholicism community Confession Current Events Dark Devotional Deconstruction Deconstruction Fellow Travelers I Want To Believe Interview Laudato Si Lent Mary Matthew's Letters Movie Reviews Music Reviews Our Charism Personal Essay Pilgrims Pope Francis Popular Piety Prayer Publishing Richard Beck Saints Satan Sheed and Ward Sick Pilgrim Charism Sick Pilgrim Chats Sick Pilgrim Events Sick Pilgrim Travelin' Medicine Show Sick Pilgrimage to The West Sick Pilgrims Small Joys Spiritual Autobiography Spooky Files of Ave Maria Magazine Spooky October Spooky Pilgrim Spooky Pilgrimage Strange Journey The Inklings Things Keeping Us Going Trying to Say God TV Reviews Uncategorized women in the Catholic Church Wonder Podcast Write the Vision

Select a Month February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 October 2019 September 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the Roman governor at the trial of Jesus?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Alexander Pilate Herod Caesar