{"id":9178,"date":"2014-03-31T11:32:57","date_gmt":"2014-03-31T15:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=9178"},"modified":"2014-03-31T11:39:08","modified_gmt":"2014-03-31T15:39:08","slug":"a-vainglorious-desire-to-suffer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2014\/03\/a-vainglorious-desire-to-suffer.html","title":{"rendered":"A Vainglorious Desire to Suffer [Pope Francis Bookclub]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In 2014, I\u2019m reading and blogging through Pope Francis\/Cardinal Bergoglio\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>Open Mind, Faithful Heart: Reflections on Following Jesus<\/a>. \u00a0Every Monday, I\u2019ll be writing about the next meditation in the book, so you\u2019re welcome to\u00a0peruse them all<\/a>\u00a0and\/or read along.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In this week\u2019s reading, Pope Francis discusses a prideful kind of hope, that redirects and tarnishes our natural desire to serve:<\/p>\n

We are permeated with vanities of every sort, but the most common type of vainglory among us is defeatism. \u00a0Vainglorious is the person who prefers to be the general of defeated armies rather than a simple soldier in a squadron that continues to fight on even when it has been devastated. \u00a0How often we dream of expansionist apostolic plans that are really those of defeated generals \u00a0Curiously, in such cases, we deny the history of our Church, which is glorious precisely because it is a history of sacrifices, of hopes, of daily struggles.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This passage spoke to a certain kind of vainglory I\u2019ve indulged in my heart more times than I care to admit. \u00a0When I am in the midst of conflict with other people, I like to imagine being nice to them and being rebuffed, so I feel like the bigger person, especially good since my goodness wasn\u2019t recognized or valued. \u00a0But this does cast me as the defeated general. \u00a0When I sally forth, my goal is not just to do the right thing for myself, but to heal the wound between myself and my antagonist, so we can both love each other as we ought. \u00a0If I walk away, having technically performed charitable acts, but without reconciliation or even the desire for it, I\u2019ve gained nothing for either of us in the battle.<\/p>\n

I see this error repeated in the Church, at least in America, where there seems to be a positive delight, in some quarters, at being turned back. \u00a0No one should really be quoting Cardinal Francis George\u2019s prediction \u201cI expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square\u201d with relish. \u00a0Being willing to suffer humiliation or persecution for the sake of Christ is different from\u00a0desiring<\/em> that these miseries be visited upon you.<\/p>\n

If you want to experience some kind of redemptive suffering, walk in the wind without a muffler. \u00a0The wind isn\u2019t harmed by causing you harm. \u00a0But persecution requires a persecutor, and Christians should never hope to see their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ cast in that role. \u00a0Even if it would make us feel really cool and badass for resisting.<\/p>\n

When we\u2019re engaged in a fight for a good cause, it\u2019s natural to expect pain, or even feel discomfited if it isn\u2019t present. \u00a0After all, in physical exertions, a reasonable amount of pain and discomfort is the signal that you\u2019re actually exerting yourself. \u00a0But, just as it would do no good for your muscles to slam your hand in a door, even if it really<\/em>\u00a0hurt, there are a lot of ways to suffer that do nothing for us and for our enemies\u2013or rather, estranged friends.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, the thing that\u2019s required in the fight is a very small, foot-soldier kind of service, that doesn\u2019t make us feel important or impressive, or that our full strength was required. \u00a0I have to remember that the pain of humility is also a signal that I\u2019m putting in effort, and strengthening my moral fibers. \u00a0It\u2019s not as exciting sounding as showy, self-focused acts of put-upon charity, but it\u2019s the service that\u2019s required and the strength that I need.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2014, I\u2019m reading and blogging through Pope Francis\/Cardinal Bergoglio\u2019s\u00a0Open Mind, Faithful Heart: Reflections on Following Jesus. \u00a0Every Monday, I\u2019ll be writing about the next meditation in the book, so you\u2019re welcome to\u00a0peruse them all\u00a0and\/or read along. In this week\u2019s reading, Pope Francis discusses a prideful kind of hope, that redirects and tarnishes our natural […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":9180,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[227],"class_list":["post-9178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-parsing-catholicism","tag-pope-francis-bookclub"],"yoast_head":"\nA Vainglorious Desire to Suffer [Pope Francis Bookclub]<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In 2014, I\u2019m reading and blogging through Pope Francis\/Cardinal Bergoglio\u2019s\u00a0Open Mind, Faithful Heart: Reflections on Following Jesus. \u00a0Every Monday, I\u2019ll\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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