Part of the reason there is such division in our country, and in the world, is a feeling of inequity. Someone is gettting more than I am, and more then they deserve, and that’s not fair. Anyone who grew up in a large family can relate. “Her piece of cake is bigger than mine.” However, the epistle of St. Peter suggests that there is at least one arena where we’re all in the same boat. Everyone suffers. Resist the devil, steadfast in faith, knowing that your brothers and sisters throughout the world undergo the same sufferings. Jesus told us “judge not lest you be judged” because we can never really know what another person is going through. Their suffering might be pushing them into behaviors which we might not like but which make sense from the point of view of their pain. As we go through our own suffering today let’s find the solidarity of suffering that St. Peter urges on us and discover that being together halves our griefs and doubles our joys.
