When the Homily is about Immunology

Suffering

Contrary to what you might think, I am not contemplating this topic because I spent everyday of last week with approximately thirteen 13 year olds for nearly 6 hours each day. Though I might jokingly refer to such a thing as suffering...I know better. During this week I received news from an old neighbor and friend that the young mother and wife of the family has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. She had fought (and we thought beaten) breast cancer several years ago, and now the doctors predict 6 months at best. Please pray for Janet and her family. I also continue to follow the Plamer Family and their fight against cancer - please pray for them as well. On top of this very real life suffering, I am reading that section of The Brothers Karamazov in which Ivan delivers his horrible soliloquy on the suffering of little children in the world...it pains me to read it. On a small scale I sometimes cause suffering for my children because of my sin (I wrestle with this as one of my many "problem areas"), but on a more cosmic scale am I pondering suffering today. I truly have so little first-hand knowledge of it, what could I possibly say about it?

Perhaps more later. Suffice to say now: it sucks.