Our Silent Savior
Have you ever had laryngitis? It is literally a crazy thing…it is this condition when you cannot speak for a certain amount of time usually after being sick with the flu. When I looked up laryngitis on the internet, it says that someone can have laryngitis for three to seven days…sometimes close to two weeks! It is very difficult to communicate when you cannot speak. Entering into Holy Week while recovering from laryngitis this winter has made me think more deeply about Jesus in His Passion. The prophet Isaiah 53:7 tells us:
“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.”
It is amazing to imagine our Lord who suffered more than we can ever imagine, taking His suffering so patiently and silently. Jesus is the innocent lamb and yet he received His sufferings with great love for the will of His Father. Silently, with the greatest love, Jesus offers Himself. I am reading a beautiful Lenten book called The Passion and the Death of Jesus Christ by St. Alphonsus De Liguori. St. Alphonsus explains the extent of God’s love for us: “All of mankind was condemned to eternal death in punishment of his sins, but Jesus chose to take upon Himself human flesh and therefore pay by His death the penalty due to man.” (De Liguori, 23-24)
The amazing fact is that everything Jesus endured: the mockery, scourging, crowning of thorns, beatings, heavy Cross. Everything He endured was with perfect love for us and perfect love for the will of His Father. It is also amazing that not only was Jesus silent in His sufferings, but Mary, His Beloved Mother, the most beautiful of God’s creation also remains silent. Mary’s silence is an expression of her deep “fiat.” She knew the time had come; the time that Her Son longed for with all of His Heart; the time where He would give Himself entirely for us; and she would also offer her own self; her own heart. It is known that in images of the saints who are martyrs, they are normally pictured with the instruments that were used for their martyrdom. Mary is pictured holding the dead body of Her Son, Her Son who is also God. That was her martyrdom (c.f. video Our Lady of Sorrows Official Explanation, Gabi After Hours) and she took it with the greatest love a mother could have.
What can the silence of Jesus and Mary in suffering teach us? Jesus and Mary loved perfectly, and so their suffering was out of perfect love and in complete obedience to the will of the Father. For us, who are sinners, we are on the journey of love and not yet perfected, so it is important to note that we must be able to share our sufferings and to seek out professional guidance from a Spiritual Director or Counsellor if necessary. To be silent does not mean that we do not seek help or guidance. What it does mean is that we do not “crumble beneath” our suffering. We are meant to see suffering as a way in which the truth of love is found and the perfection of love is brought about in us. (c.f. video Living With Our Wounds- The Passion in Theology and in Our Lives, Bishop Erik Varden). Indeed, suffering allows us to say, “fiat” and consent to the good that God wills through the suffering, even when it is hard to see at the time. We can only really know that God wills good through suffering if we have the conviction that God loves us and can only will the good for us. When we know God’s love, we are able to carry our suffering with peace and true freedom. Suffering, though painful, can be a marvelous way in which our love is purified and we are able to live in the full freedom of love that Christ wishes us to live.
As we enter into the holiest week of the Church’s calendar and prepare our hearts for the Sacred Triduum, let us take some time to reflect on the many sufferings we endure in our day-to-day lives and how we may be able to carry them better.
