During prayer before mass the other day, I found myself meditating on all the ways Jesus suffers with us whenever we suffer. How He cries for us even when we simply scrape up our knees, and even more when our hearts are in unbearable pain. If it matters to us -- hurts us -- it matters to Christ. When we feel like we are the most alone, that is when Christ is closest to us, weeping at the sight of His wounded loved one.

In this moment, I thought of the mythical creature, the Phoenix. Not only do these majestic birds have healing powers in Greco/Roman, Arab, and Egyptian mythology, but their new life comes from the ashes of their own death.

In the Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling, Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, dies right before Harry's eyes and then rises with a new and beautiful appearance. Harry didn't understand the confusing death of the bird, but realized the beauty in its resurrection. Later in the novel, right when Harry feels most alone and completely without hope, Fawkes comes into the darkness, lands quietly beside him, and begins to cry at seeing Harry's and Ginny's wounds.

As the tears land on Harry's poisoned arm, the wound closes and Harry finds new strength to save his friends and get back up to school. Just as Fawkes' sadness and tears healed Harry's physical wound and even his melancholy (restoring his hope), Christ's sadness and compassion for our trials bring great mercy for us. His unending love for us, and his death on the cross allowed mass forgiveness to come into the world and heal all of us.

Without His death, Jesus never would've risen, and hope wouldn't have returned to the followers of Christ, and to us in turn. Christ died to save us, and rose to give us hope. He suffers again and again every day so that mercy can be ours; so that we can be healed. He suffers right beside us and heals us in our own suffering (shoutout to redemptive suffering!)

So, Praise God for suffering, which brings Mercy! Praise God for His son, who NEVER lets us suffer alone. Praise Jesus in His death and in His resurrection.

Just as a phoenix will fly away eventually, to where you cannot see it, Christ ascended into heaven so that we could receive His HOLY SPIRIT! Praise you Holy Spirit! Even though we can't see Jesus, He is so close to us, and never closer than when we suffer. Praise you God. †