Jeremiah 18:18-20 / Matthew 20:17-28
In our very urbanized country, things have changed so much and so fast that we can even get nostalgic over things like a charcoal stove.
We certainly can remember waiting for the kettle of water to boil over the charcoal stove, and how we can squat there or do other things while waiting.
But with everything changing so fast and so much, it seems that life should be more convenient and we should have more time.
Yet, the irony is that with life getting more convenient, we also begin to avoid discomfort and we don't see any meaning in it.
On a deeper level, we also want to avoid suffering because suffering is negative and meaningless.
Even in the 1st reading, the prophet Jeremiah was asking the Lord to deliver him from his adversaries and from suffering.
In the gospel, James and John also wanted the glory, but Jesus asked them if they could take the suffering as well.
The same question is also asked of us: Can you drink of the cup that I am going to drink?
Just as water has to be boiled before it can be fit for drinking, we too will have to go through the sharpening fires of suffering before we can find its meaning.
There is meaning in suffering. It is called redemptive suffering. It is the kind of suffering that Jesus showed us when He was nailed to the cross.
May we too offer up our suffering in love like Jesus did, for our redemption as well as the redemption of the world.