We all know the beatitude “Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven” (Mt 5:11-12).
Another version can be found in St. Luke’s Sermon on the Plain: “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven” (Mk 6:22-23).
We can comfort ourselves about these difficult teachings by thinking how unlikely it would be for us to experience such extreme treatment. With these beatitudes, however, we learn that it is possible to find joy and peace when bad things and mean people come our way.
Still, we hope to avoid such a trial.
But there are similar but more miniscule trials that can come at us at unexpected moments. These small things also can test our hearts, our patience and our humility in a milder but still the same way.
Many of us, for example, have at some point been blamed for something that we did not do. When such a blame happens, even if it is something small and unimportant, we are likely to leap to our own defense.
In the same upsetting way, one or more people might misunderstand our motivations — assuming the worst of course — and again even if it is about something insignificant, how it bothers us and causes us to try to justify ourselves to them.
Those are automatic reactions. But God calls us to make better use of such moments.
St. Therese of the Child Jesus (of Lisieux), for example, once delayed volunteering for a particular task because she realized that another sister would enjoy the task as much or more than she would. The other sister did volunteer and was happy. But certain others expressed their thought that Sister Therese didn’t volunteer out of laziness.
That stung, but Therese offered up that unkind assumption as a sacrifice to God. She didn’t speak out or defend herself, preferring that God be the only one who knew her true intentions. It was a bit of suffering that she could offer up as a penance for the good of the world.
Therese offered up a lot of little things that “pricked” her —allowing herself to be “nipped” over and over. We know of a few things: putting up with the nun who constantly clacked her rosary; not retaliating against the sister who frequently splashed her as they did laundry; being gracious to those sisters who brought her flowers and lingered even as they interrupted her prayer in the garden.
If we think about it, most of us are “gifted” with similar opportunities that we could offer up secretly to God for His eyes and ears only. The alternative might be to become angry or bitter or even to see the world as out to get us. Much better to give such moments to God and gain graces and peace!
Other common, little situations can provide us with a chance to reflect the joy of living for Christ.
We might, for example, choose the smaller cookie so another can have the larger. Or turn to God if someone turns away from us, without holding on to the snub or assuming bad motives.
Let the guy who is in such a hurry go by. Open the door and wait a moment to hold it for someone behind you. Do it with a smile — you might be the only one to smile at that person today.
Perhaps a host of such miniscule sacrifices will bring us the spiritual maturity we’ll need if some significant threat to our wellbeing and faith comes along in the future. If we can develop a habit of handing the niggling trials in life to God, we’ll quickly advance spiritually.
And we’ll soon be stronger in faith and find ourselves as having developed a habit of joy in all circumstances.
