In the U.S., we live in a culture of perfection—perfect hair, perfect bodies, perfect grades, perfect families. We assume that everything should be easy (why else do we have e-cards, and instant idiot-proof soup?) But we´ve lost a lot of the joy of creation, and the joy that comes through suffering.

What is our purpose here on Earth? Contrary to popular belief, it is not self-gratification. It is to glorify and love God. God is merciful but are we taking that mercy for grantedf? Are we forgetting our role in salvation?

We often assume a “prosperity-gospel” mentality, and believe that if God really loved us we wouldn´t suffer. We look for Easter Sunday while ignoring Good Friday. But we forget that without Good Friday there is no Easter Sunday. Without suffering there is no joy. Love grows in suffering. We grow in suffering.

Jesus Himself said, “In this world You will have suffering—but take heart, for I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) This Lent, and even now in the Easter season, we have seen much suffering here—people dying, grave injuries, hunger, danger—but we pray that these things push those who experience them closer to Christ.

Doña Paulita has suffered for years from horrible asthma—barely able to breathe and almost never leaving her bed—but whenever we asked her how she was...”Pues...aqui” (“Well, I´m still here”) she would say with a smile. She was always praying, and always had a smile on her face.

She entered the hospital a few weeks before Lent started. We knew from the beginnig this would be her last visit. She died at home with her family the Saturday before Holy Week. I have no doubt where Doña Paulita is—I pray that hers is one of the first faces I see in Heaven.

Suffering hurts, that´s true—it strips us of all our falseness and all the things that keep us from God. Like gold tested in fire, suffering makes us more whole—more who we really are and who God wants us to be. So who are we to reject the Cross? Who are we to try and skip Good Friday? May God give us the grace in this Easter season to embrace our cross and rejoice in the purification of Good Friday, in hope of Easter Sunday.

--Jenny Perone