Don't Miss the Boat
"Be silent! Swallow, suffer, and then smile."
Frequently I think about how important it is to know how
to experience moments of pain, suffering, rejection, loneliness, failure,
disappointment, and betrayal. These moments are all part of human life because
they are part of human reality.
At times, our Lord wants us to participate in human
suffering. We must develop our capacity to suffer and, simultaneously, to offer
up this pain. To do this, it is necessary to tell God, to cry out to God, about
our suffering, kneeling with our eyes fixed on the crucifix. We must develop
this mentality, this way of confronting life, so that when we encounter the
cross, we do not trivialise, diminish, or strip away the value of this precious
moment in which Jesus allows us to share the pain of His cross, by giving us a
splinter. Pain is part of human life. We must not run away from it, cheapen it
by venting about it to others superficially!
We have a saying that's applicable to the moments of
suffering and provocation. It consists of four main words: "Be silent!
Swallow, suffer, and then smile." When someone is corrected and justifies
himself, the other young men tell him, "You missed the boat!" They're
talking about the boat of maturity, of self-control, of the capacity to be
silent and not answer back, and to suffer with dignity and in silence.
I teach these things to our young men and women
because... they must be prepared. Their boss at work will not admit that he is
wrong; their husbands or wives will not want to be at fault; their children
will argue and talk back, yet still someone will have to "lose" so
that peace can reign. Yes, peace is more important than anything, and to know
how to "lose" is our security.
It is the mysterious school of the cross, of a God who
did not explain it but embraced it, experiencing it in the flesh of His
crucified Son. Jesus invites us to gaze upon Him, to ask Him for faith and
love, so that our heart will not lose hope because, through the darkness of
Good Friday, our eyes see the splendid light of Easter morning. The Risen Jesus
is our true hope, for in Him pain and death have been defeated.
* Mother
Elvira Petrozzi is the foundress of Comunita Cenacolo,
which welcomes the lost and desperate in sixty-three houses across seventeen countries.
which welcomes the lost and desperate in sixty-three houses across seventeen countries.