Worth the weight

At the Archdiocese of New York's Young Adult Holy Hour last night in St. Patrick's beautiful Our Lady chapel, a thought came to me during Eucharistic Adoration that I didn't want to hear:

"Be thankful for your crosses."

I realized that if I want to have a closer walk with Jesus, I have to thank him for the burdens in my life, particularly the ones for which, for whatever reason, I lack the power to shed.

It's not a message that, I think, anyone particularly wants to hear, but I believe it's consistent with Scripture. More than that, I believe that if I heed it — really thank God for the crosses that I carry — it could help me have a deeper relationship with the Lord, because I will be better conformed to His will.

I also believe in praying for God to remove my crosses. But if He's taking His time doing so, perhaps it's because I haven't experienced them fully yet. The only way to do that is to be thankful for them, regardless of whether He gave them to me or whether they are my own fault. In either case, He permitted me to carry them.

Most of all, I plan to thank God today for my crosses because, while it's not unbiblical, it feels so wrong. It goes completely against what I want to pray, as do other scriptural imperatives, like praying for my enemies. And that's why I suspect it's what I need.