(Mt. 16:21-23; Mk. 8:31; Lk. 9:22). Not only did Jesus foresee and speak about the passion he would undergo, he also lived and preached keeping in mind the great mystery that he would rise on the third day after his death. Foreknowledge and certainty of his resurrection was his strength. That is also the secret of the power of the kingdom of God.
 
 

He would be killed. Moreover, his death would be preceded by cruel suffering, and that from his own people. Jesus knew all this beforehand. This is happening in our lives too. We should be able to discern the suffering in our domestic life and in our spiritual life as in the case of Jesus and be able to say with him : "I must go to Jerusalem". There we will have to suffer from elders, superiors, spiritual directors and parents and be obliged to accept from them several ideas which are contrary to ours.Though we know that "obedience is better than sacrifice", we do not foresee these circumstances. Obedience, therefore, becomes difficult. " He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him" (Jn. 1:11). The greatest suffering will be from our own family, our own community. " I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But it is to fulfil the scripture, 'The one who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me'" (Jn. 13:18). One eats and drinks with a friend and runs a business with him. But the liaison does not last long. The partner escapes after swindling a fortune. We usually come across such instances where those we love, unexpectedly turn against us. It is then that we should look beyond and see the resurrection that comes after the "death".
 
 

(Mt, 16:22-23; Mk. 8:32-33). The spirit that leads us away from suffering can work through several people. Many may commiserate with us. They may even console us, hoping we may not have to suffer. When the lusts and desires of the flesh conquer us and drag us down into the pit of worldly pleasures, we must realize they are the work of this spirit. It is not the spirit of God. To such temptations we must say, "Satan, go away from me. You are a stumbling block to me." The courage to say this can be given to us only by the Spirit of Jesus who suffered his passion and death and rose from the dead. It is the Spirit of the Saviour of the world. The desires for the pleasures of this world are against God. "You are setting your mind not on divine things." We are not people who should set our minds on worldly things.
 
 

"For he has graciously granted you the privilege of not only believing in Christ but of suffering for him as well" (Phil. 1:29). We should be able to develop our spiritual life through this word of God. When we grow in our faith in Jesus, we shall see that this growth reaches completion only when we suffer for his sake. To put it in another way, when faith grows in us, the grace to suffer also grows proportionately. But we do not see it as a grace. Rather, we look at it and grumble. But the way to the kingdom of heaven is narrow. It is only through the path of suffering that we can enter God's kingdom. We need to accept the great mystery that only through the cross can we experience the resurrection. When we pray for physical healing, some illnesses are not healed. The reason may be that those illnesses are part of the grace to suffer. Do we capitalize on the pain and difficulty we undergo whenever we are sick or the suffering we go through when we nurse the sick and turn them into blessings? Those bed-ridden for years in some convents or homes are blessed in two ways. One is through their suffering. Secondly, through the suffering of those who are nursing them with love and patience. Through that suffering the community and family receive great blessings from God.

This is very clear in the lives of the saints. We read in the life of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity that while on her death bed she prayed, "My God, I thirst to be totally united with you." The Lord then said to her: " What kind of death do you prefer? A normal death or death on the cross ?" At once Elizabeth replied happily, "Death on the cross." Jesus permitted such a death. Consequently, Elizabeth did not die at once. Moreover, she had to undergo more pain and suffering. Some time later she commended her soul to her Lord with great joy.

Let us pray for a moment: "Dear Jesus, I accept all the suffering you permit in my life. I thank you for transforming that suffering into a blessing (spend a few minutes thanking God for all the sufferings of your life and surrender them at the foot of the cross of Jesus). " For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears" (Phil. 3:18). If we do not accept the suffering in our life, thinking only in a human and not in a divine manner, if we do not allow ourselves to be blessed through suffering, we become the enemies of Christ, the enemies of the cross. St. Francis of Assisi loved suffering and wished for it in all his actions and for this purpose deliberately surrendered his mind and body to it. Thus the great saint became the friend of the cross of Christ. God, therefore, "highly exalted him." Those who humble themselves will be exalted.
 
 

" While everyone was amazed at all that he was doing, he said to his disciples 'Let these words sink into your ears: the Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands' But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was concealed from them, so that they could not perceive it" (Lk. 9:44-45; Mt. 17-22:23; Mk. 9:30-32). When God does great and wonderful things through our ministry, we must be aware of the suffering that will follow. Jesus very explicitly said to his disciples, "Let these words sink into your ears." Let us pray that these words may sink deeply into our hearts too. The prophecy and teaching that Jesus gave regarding suffering and the paschal mystery must sink deep into our hearts. Only then can we become true disciples of Christ.
 
 

"But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was concealed from them, so that they could not perceive it". It is the Holy Spirit who reveals to us this inscrutable mystery. "These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God" (1Cor. 2:10). It is not enough to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We must also be guided by the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit revealed to the apostles the mystery of entering the kingdom of God through suffering, everything was clearly impressed on their minds, that is, after Pentecost. When all of them began to walk along the path of suffering, accepting it in their lives, the gospel began to spread rapidly. Miracles began to occur through their ministry. What we see throughout the ministry of the apostles is that they worked in the power of the resurrection manifested through the inscrutable paschal mystery.

" As they left the council, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonour for the sake of the name. And every day in the temple and at home they did not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Christ" (Acts. 5:41-42). When we become partakers of the passion of Christ through suffering, we become participators in the salvific mystery of Christ. It is then that the Spirit of the Saviour dwells in us. Evangelisation can take place only through the power of the Spirit. When we have the responsibility of spreading the gospel to the 100 crore people in India today, when we are all working tirelessly for the evangelisation of the world, it is necessary to accept and realize this mystery and abandon ourselves to suffering. Only then will evangelisation take place.

In other words, what obstructs evangelisation today, is our affluent lifestyle and our observances which go counter to the cross of Christ and his life. We, who have received the call, "Come, follow me," are participators in Christ's death and resurrection through baptism. If we, who have been called thus, live a worldly life, whatever be the work we do for evangelisation, it is not going to be the fulfillment of God's will. The Lord will say to us : "Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers" (Mt. 7:23). "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my father in heaven" (Mt. 7:21). The will of the heavenly Father was that Jesus accept that "chalice", suffer, die and then rise. This is applicable to us, too, as Christians. Only this can help us to fully make our own the experience of the resurrection.
 
 

"Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, 'See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon. After they have flogged him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again.' But they understood nothing about all these things; in fact, what he said was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said"(Lk. 18:31-34; Mt. 20:17-19; Mk. 10:32-34). "He called all twelve of them to him and said". We understand from this that this teaching was given exclusively to the disciples. Even today, Jesus calls us who are still being schooled in discipleship, and says the same thing to each of us. We may be ridiculed and insulted. Others may spit on our face or speak ill of us. We should rejoice on all those occasions. On the third day Jesus will rise from the dead.
 
 

When sufferings come our way, we fail to realize that we too will "rise" one day. "Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Tim 3:12). "And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope" (Rom 5:3-4). "Do not, therefore, abandon that confidence of yours; it brings a great reward. For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised" (Heb. 10:35-36).

It is when we realise this truth that we grow. Let us, reflect on the sufferings that we are enduring now in order to lovingly participate in the passion of Jesus, and surrender them to God with self confidence for the sake of his kingdom. Let us partake of his passion in order to attain eternal life and voluntarily accept the salvific and undeserved suffering that comes our way. Thus we shall enter the kingdom of God through the experience of the resurrection.