Magnificat Vol. LVIII, No. 1 5 each of these synonyms, God expects His child to receive it with patience as a gift. We must be very attentive to the way we receive suffering. I would like to take this opportunity to correct an oft-repeated statement: The cross, suffering, is salvation. This is true, but at the same time it is inaccurate. There were three crosses on Calvary. The cross of Jesus, Christ the Redeemer. He came to save us by means of the deified cross, precisely by this sleight of hand of His infinite Love. There is the cross of the good thief, who was revolted, who grumbled and complained, as the Gospel relates. But when he contemplated Jesus crucified next to him, he was converted, he was transformed, and suffering became redemptive and salutary for him. On the other hand, the bad thief, who underwent the same suffering, the same torment of the cross, became a reprobate, because he grumbled and complained till the end. He blasphemed, he cursed his sufferings. It is a great mystery which Jesus revealed to us, and which was also partially revealed in the Old Testament. Let us recall the story of the holy man Tobias, truly a saint in the Old Testament, who multiplied his good works in secret, in great discretion, under the eye of God alone, to glorify Him. Humanity was still several centuries before the coming of Christ. As Tobias was taking a nap under a tree, some bird droppings fell on his eyes and he became blind for years. Later, thanks to a cure indicated by the Archangel Raphael, who had accompanied his son to a distant land, Tobias was healed of his blindness upon their return. Then the Angel instructed him on the reason for this trial: “I will now reveal the truth to you, and I will not hide the secret from you. Because you were acceptable to God, it was necessary that you be tried.”3 Hearing the statement of this great truth which the Angel manifests to us in God’s name, we must be silent and endorse this truth, adhere to it. Because you 3. Cf. Holy Bible, Tobias 12:6-13. This story is narrated in this issue beginning on page 14. were acceptable to God, it was necessary that you be tried… We might retort that everyone on earth is tested! And then add that probably most of these people are not pleasing to God. Well, I would answer that the mercy of God is even greater now than it was for Tobias. It is true that we are not pleasing to God, but He sends us trials in order to make us pleasing to Him. This is the purpose of suffering. — THE DIVINE REMEDY We are all sinners. Humanity is more sinful than ever before. God wants to make humanity pleasing in His sight, humanity which outrages Him, these Christians who scorn Him and shamelessly despise His expectations in every way. In spite of this, God has decided that He will make humanity pleasing in His divine sight. That is why we invite you to Christian patience, so that we sinners may become pleasing to God, along with all our brothers of the earth. Not so long ago, concerning the anxiety that we may feel in these troubled times, I asked the question: Is God going to close the books? Closing the books means shutting down the company, it is all over. Will this be the end of the history of humanity? From a human point of view, is God not discouraged, fed up, tired of men? Is He For the gift of the cross, THANK YOU, O Master!
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