I have a friend who is a religious sister. We grew up together at the same parish and later we found each other at the convent and the seminary. She took her final vow in 2005 and two years later she was diagnosed cancer in the stage of between three and four. When I was at home last July, she was in the hospital again after her second chemo. Things were not going well; I had been told it could be weeks or months not to see her anymore.
One day I was with her. I asked, “Are you hurt?” “Yes, it hurts me.” “I believe you become Real.” “What does it mean?” she asked. I continued, “I am sure you know about the story of the Velveteen Rabbit. It says that when someone loves you for a long, long time and really loves you, then you become Real. And it is hurt. To be honest with you, I am afraid to say that by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all because once you are Real, you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.” My friend answered, ““Yes, I don’t mind being hurt, if I console, understand and love my Lord deeper and deeper. Really I want to become real.” As she wished, she became Real because I realized God loves her so much.
If we love, truly love, we don’t mind being hurt. Jesus doesn’t mind being suffered, rejected and killed because he loves all to the end. Jesus has great passion for us, so the Passion has to be entailed from that heart; the suffering is inevitable to the one who truly loves. It is the Christ who must suffer, be rejected and killed and Jesus asks us, “Who do you say I am?”
We must suffer if we wish to come after Jesus. We must deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him. Without these uncomfortable things, we can’t become Real like my friend and Jesus. However, it is important to see how Jesus endures the suffering and death.
Jesus sticks to God, always praying, “The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced. See the Lord God is my help, who will prove me wrong?” His strength always comes from God. Jesus shows that if we solidly anchor on God, suffering and death will lead us to resurrection.
As I said about the word passion in terms of the very strong feeling as well as the suffering and death of Jesus, I would like to invite you to go back to your place with the last word that is related. It is compassion that we all need to live out day after day. It is compassion that makes Jesus suffer and die for us. It is compassion in which we are able to take courage to suffer with others. It is compassion in which Jesus is always with us.
“Who do you say I am?” Now you don’t need to answer that Jesus is the Christ but to say, “I am the Christ” with compassionate heart. So when you go back to your ministry and work, you show compassion if your brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day. Jesus will be with you. He is the company to you because the word company derived from the Latin word ‘com’ with or together and ‘panis’ bread. So especially when we share our bread with others in the Eucharistic life, let us remember Jesus the compassion and the company of our life-long journey.