Suffering & Redemption
In the summer of 2018, I went on a month-long mission trip to Kolkata, India to serve in the slums with the Missionaries of Charity; the place Mother Teresa lived, walked, and served. The environment was dreadful. Families and babies were sleeping on cardboard boxes on the sidewalk, trash was being burned daily for disposal, the air quality was smoggy and toxic, and it was always 100+ degrees and humid causing sweat to continuously drip down our faces. There were cows and other animals walking the streets, car horns honking incessantly, plus heavy thunderstorms weekly. The first week I was there it felt as if I had entered what ‘felt’ like Hell. It wasn’t until the third week, I encountered a glimpse of Heaven.
One day while we were serving, a group of missionaries and nuns brought in a middle-aged man to care for him. He was homeless, living in the slums for a long time. He got out of the ambulance with a stench, ragged clothes, matted and unwashed hair, a 6-inch gash in the middle of his head and a paralyzed left arm and leg. After he bathed and was cleaned up, his face started glowing, with his big, brown eyes filled with tears. Every day moving forward, as he continued to heal and be fed, we would pass by his bed and he would sit up and wave. He would open his arms, desiring a hug and as we walked over to him, he would begin to smile and tear up. We were unable to communicate with him because of the language barrier, but his smile communicated everything. Witnessing the joy and emotion of this man, as we took care of his most basic needs, made us wonder when the last time he was truly loved.
My last day serving, I wheeled him up to his bed, picked him up and sat him down. I sat next to him on the side of his bed to say goodbye and without hesitation he “bear hugged” embraced me squeezing me to his chest. He then noticed that I was wearing a necklace with a crucifix and his eyes lit up. I decided to give it to him, and I placed the necklace around his head and he “bear hugged” me even more. In this moment I recalled Jesus’ words that whatever you do unto others, you do unto Me (see Matt. 25:40). I felt like I was placing this necklace around Jesus. After about 30 seconds of being squeezed with love by this man, I began to back away from his grip, but he pulled me right back to his chest and didn’t want to let me go! That day I learned that every person I meet, whether suffering or not, should be a moment of awe, wonder, and thanksgiving. The suffering and vulnerable give us an insight into the mystery of life and they teach us how to love.
Do you recall a time when you saw someone suffering greatly, or when someone opened up their vulnerable and wounded heart to you? When this happens our attention on the other person doesn’t stop at the surface (physical) but suffering and vulnerability is an entry into the heart of the other (spiritual). John Paul II calls this the peace of the interior gaze, which allows the intimacy of persons.
When I served in Kolkata, there was a lot of physical suffering, which helped me to see the person in front of me and not stop at the surface. Here in the West, the suffering is more interior, making it difficult to see others because on the outside we all look like we have everything together. We all know, however, this is often not the case. The Good News is that the pain and suffering we experience in this life do not have the final word. God will “wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4). Let us persevere in hope that one day we will enter our heavenly homeland that Christ has prepared for us, where we will be fully redeemed and united to God forever.