Word of Life

March 2007

Difficulties are a vital part of life. They are the source of new growth.

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. (Ps 126: 5)

This Word of Life is taken from a Psalm that sings of the powerful and decisive act of God who frees his people from their exile in Babylon and who continues to act in all their history, each time he sees them downtrodden, discouraged, tempted by evil.

This is the story of each one of us, condensed into a telling image: on the one hand, the uncertainty, the nervousness of the farmer who entrusts his seeds to the earth (will the season be good? will the wheat grow?) and, on the other, the joy of the long-awaited harvest.

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

Chiara Lubich wrote that when we think of our life, we often imagine it as a harmonious whole, as a series of days that we propose to make each more perfect than the other, with our work done well, and study, and rest, and time spent with family, with gatherings and meetings, sports and recreation, all carried out in order and in peace…. There is always hope in the human heart that things will work out like this and only like this.
In reality, our Holy Journey turns out differently, because God wants it differently. And he himself introduces into our lives other elements desired or permitted by him, so our existence may acquire its true meaning and reach the end it was created for. Hence physical and spiritual pain, hence sicknesses, hence the multitude of sufferings that speak more of death than life.

Why is this? Is it perhaps because God wants death? No, rather God loves life, but a life so full, so fruitful that we – despite all our striving for the good, for the positive, for peace – could never have imagined.

And relevant at this point is the image of the farmer sowing the seed destined to die, almost a sign of our efforts and our suffering, and the image of one who harvests, who gathers the grain springing from that death: ‘Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit’. (John 12: 24)

During the course of our life, God wants us to experience a kind of death – or many kinds of death sometimes. But … this is so that we can bear fruit, and do works worthy of him and not just of us mere human beings. This is the meaning of our life for him: a life rich, full, superabundant, a life that can be a reflection of his.

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

How can we live this Word of Life? Chiara again suggests an answer that guides us in putting the Word of God into practice: ‘We need to value suffering, great or small, see it as something important…. We must value hard work, the sacrifice required by love for our neighbours: this is our characteristic duty.’ It is a suffering that generates life!

And we should live like this without ever giving up, even when we see no results, fully aware that ‘one sows and another reaps’. (John 4: 37) What will the future hold for the children we are trying to educate as well as possible? Who will see the effects of my social and political work? Let us never grow weary in doing what is right (Gal 6: 9), since the fruits will come in any case, perhaps much later, perhaps elsewhere, but they will come.

A hope, a certainty, a sure goal is in front of us in our life’s journey. The difficulties, the trials, the adversities, which at times weigh us down, are a necessary passage that will open us up to blessings and joy.
‘And so, forward! Let’s look beyond every suffering. Let’s not stop at that uncertainty, at that trial. Let’s us look forward to the harvest we’ll receive.’

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

Patricia, a 22-year-old law student, was covering for the assistant to her departmental director. ‘Right from the beginning,’ she said, ‘I decided I would try always to improve in my work and be attentive in my relationships with my colleagues, making each one of them feel valued.’

Yet she often had to swim against the tide in the defence of her principles. Then on one occasion, ‘An important person at work, who enjoyed certain privileges, was clearly being dishonest. I had to tell him.’

Patricia acted on her convictions but as a result she lost her job. ‘I suffered terribly, but I was also peaceful about it, because I knew I had done the right thing.’ She did not despair because she was strongly aware of having a Father who can do all things, who loves her without measure. Despite the economic situation of her country, Paraguay, that very evening she received two job offers. Her new job turned out to be even better than her previous one and more directly connected with her field of studies.

by Fabio Ciardi and Gabriella Fallacara

Next Month:
I am among you like a servant. (Luke 22: 27)

Meditation:
Journey to Heaven (New City Press, New York 1997) pp. 82-3, trans. revised.
Ibid., p. 83, trans. revised.
Ibid., p.101, trans. revised.
Ibid., p. 84, trans revised.