OUR PARTICIPATION

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A few years ago, I was watching an interview between an anchorman and a priest on FOX news, and the topic happened to be the late Pope, John Paul II, who had only just passed away.

The priest began to speak about the sufferings of the pope, how that after the assassination attempt he suffered pain the rest of his life, and as John Paul aged he developed Parkinson's Disease which proved to be extremely debilitating, as well. And yet for all his suffering, this priest continued to travel, and minister to his people.

Near the end of the interview the Catholic cleric quoted Colossians 1:24, "Filling up in my own body the unfinished sufferings of Christ."

And the newsman responded, "I don't understand. What is unfinished about Christ' sufferings?"

To which the kindly priest, with a sad twinkle in his eye, responded...

"…Our Participation.”

Too few believers grasp or appreciate the wherewithal we have been given to suffer with Him. Not that we desire it or seek it, but when it comes, we bear faithfully with it, and gladly participate in that unfinished suffering which He so nobly began

Bill McDonald, PhD