First Tuesday of Ordinary Time

For it was fitting that he, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the leader to their salvation perfect through suffering. He who consecrates and those who are being consecrated all have one origin.

Just as Jesus was made perfect through suffering, so are we made better by it. We might not want to suffer, but without the possibility of failure or rejection then we wouldn’t appreciate our successes or learn how to love unconditionally. If there was no choice to be made between following the easy path of worldliness and the harder one of holiness, then we would be left wandering without direction. It is by choosing good over evil that we prove ourselves to God and are consecrated to Him. Uniting our sufferings with Christ’s is one way we can give glory to God and proclaim our allegiance to the Holy Trinity.

How can we live lives that give glory to God? How can we transform our sufferings into expressions of our love for God and His children? What can we do to consecrate our minds, hearts, souls, and strengths to God?

O Lord, make us better followers of your will through the consecration of our suffering to your glory.

Amen.