The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041426.cfm
Father Matt Tomeny, MIC, challenges the modern misconception that joy and suffering are always opposites, pointing out instead that the Cross is the very pathway to true happiness. In this Easter season, he reminds us that to have life in Christ, we must be born again of the Spirit, a process that requires dying to ourselves. While the apostles initially panicked and fled when facing the Christ’s Passion, lacking the Holy Spirit’s full understanding, we now know the end of the story: the Resurrection. Therefore, we have no reason to fear our own trials. The Cross is not an obstacle to grace, but the avenue to it; it is the ladder that gives us a path to the now-open gates of Heaven.
Father Matt draws on the wisdom of St. Rose of Lima, who was told by the Lord that grace increases as struggles increase. Without the burden of afflictions, it is impossible to reach the heights of grace. This truth was starkly illustrated by Ven. Fulton Sheen’s story of a boy hanging on a gallows in a Nazi concentration camp. When asked, “Where is your God now?” the answer was clear: He was hanging on the gallows with the boy. Christ redeems suffering, transforming it into victory over death. We are called to unite our crosses to His, finding value in our pain through His sacrifice.
Father Matt also highlights St. Lidwina of Schiedam, a Dutch girl who endured 38 years of paralysis, blindness, and illness following an ice-skating accident. Despite her disfigurement and inability to write or achieve worldly success, she radiated joy and wisdom, becoming a spiritual guide for many. Her body, once broken, was found perfectly straight and beautiful at her death, a sign of the resurrection glory awaiting us. Father Matt applies this to our daily lives, borrowing an image from the Marian Fathers’ General Superior Fr. Joe Roesch, MIC, to note that our families and communities are like sandpaper, refining us through friction. By denying our own wills and embracing these daily crosses, we become a community of one heart and mind, praying “Thy will be done” and cooperating with God’s grace to secure our participation in eternal life.
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