ELEVENTH STATION Luke 23: 33-34: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+23%3A33-34&version=NABRE I AM NAILED TO THE CROSS I adore you, O Christ, and I bless you. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world

The pain of those nails almost made me black out. They were blunt Roman spikes that crushed flesh and bone. Yet it was not so much that pain I felt, it was the agony that welled up at the thought of what was happening. “Why, Father? Why nails in your Son?”   Let me tell you the difference between pain and suffering. Pain is the blind impersonal clashing of forces that is universal. Suffering is uniquely human. A plant or an animal may be in pain, but there is no suffering. Suffering springs from a mind capable of turning raw pain into agony by asking why. Why is this happening to me? Must it happen? Is it fair? That is why you must never underestimate the degree of suffering of any of your brothers or sisters. If you look only at their pain, you may wonder what they have to complain about. But you cannot see their suffering. You don’t know how sensitive their souls are, how quickly their pain can become insufferable agony. Instead of judging, do all you can to relieve both their pain and their suffering. Lord Jesus, help us walk in your steps. May God Be Praised!