Our Lady of the Rosary: Fourth Sorrowful Mystery: The Carrying of the Cross –
(The fourth in a series of meditations on the Mysteries of the Rosary by Rev. Addisalem T. Mekonnen, Spiritual Director of the Philadelphia Senatus)
Why do Bad Things Happen to Good People?
This is a cliché question that gets tossed around in books, T.V. shows and movies. Those bad things could be defined in a thousand different situations in a person’s life and yet it could be summarized simply as suffering. The living Word of God reveals to all people that the underlying source of all suffering, and even death itself, is sin, which effects all of humanity, whether they acknowledge it or not. Sin is an unpopular word and concept that is not readily accepted or discussed much in our modern society—even for Christians. Sin is the disobedience of God’s commandments and that disobedience is essentially our rejection of God’s infinite and unconditional love for us. Even though this is not politically correct, or nice to say—the truth is that even good people sin. God alone is perfectly good, so everyone is a sinner in comparison to the holiness found in Jesus Christ. Our Blessed Mother, as the Immaculate Conception, is sinless, yet even our Lady acknowledged God as her Savior in the Magnificat Canticle. Some sufferings occur not because of personal sin, as in the case of Our Lady, but rather because that person is having a share in the Passion of Christ in reparation for someone else’s attachment to sin.
Our good Lord,who patiently and faithfully carried His cross to Calvary in the past, desires to carry it again in the present through His faithful disciples. Our Lord ardently loved His cross even thought it was a source of intense suffering that His Body was barely able to carry, since Simon had to help Him carry it. The famous motto of “Boys Town” in an orphanage for boys founded by Fr. Edward Flanagan states “he ain’t heavy father… he is my brother”. Similarly, our Lord does not see His carrying the cross as some ambiguous random suffering accomplished out of some servile duty for His Heavenly Father and humanity. The infinite love that our Lord has for His Heavenly Father and every sinner, in every age, is a love that is as personal as our name—embracing us perfectly and completely. That is the reason why our Blessed Lord never complains about us as an unbearable cross before His Heavenly Father, but instead expresses His willing desire to carry us patiently and faithfully to Calvary in reparation for each sinner in every age throughout the world. Therefore, through the intercession of our Lady, may our Blessed Lord help us to see with eyes of faith that our cross is not a bad thing but a visible sign of His personal powerful love living within us.