Merton: seeing Christ in suffering

Friday, December 10, 2010
    Commemoration of Thomas Merton, Monk, Spiritual Writer, 1968
Meditation:
    As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
    When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
    One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
    Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
    Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
    —Luke 17:12-19 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We must be willing to accept the bitter truth that, in the end, we may have to become a burden to those who love us. But it is necessary that we face this also. The full acceptance of our abjection and uselessness is the virtue that can make us and others rich in the grace of God. It takes heroic charity and humility to let others sustain us when we are absolutely incapable of sustaining ourselves.
    We cannot suffer well unless we see Christ everywhere—both in suffering and in the charity of those who come to the aid of our affliction.
    ... Thomas Merton (1915-1968), No Man is an Island, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1955; reprint, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2002, p. 93-94 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me the grace to accept the compassion of others. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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