It's Good Friday! It doesn't feel like it's been Lent, but man has it flown by! 40 days without coffee, yeah it's been tough. But it's definitely been worth it. One of the benefits of going to a Catholic college is that there's no school on Good Friday or Easter Monday! so I've been back home since last night not worrying about anything school related. Well, other than Africa, which is only a month away exactly!
I went to Good Friday mass, and there was a guest priest from Croatia. He had a great homily about suffering. His homily compared a young man from Suttons Bay waiting outside 2-3 hours for a girl he likes in 10 degree weather to a prisoner in Guantanamo Bay being tortured by being locked in a freezer for 2-3 hours. Technically they're going through the same exact thing, but only the prisoner in Guantanamo Bay is suffering. But why? Because the boy is in love. When you do something because you love someone you're not suffering. Suffering is internal, not external.
After Mass my friend Rachel and I went to the Sleeping Bear Dunes and climbed the Dunes. If you've ever been to these dunes you know how steep they are. It wasn't an easy process climbing and hiking all day, but once we saw the view it was totally worth it. It feels like you're on top of the world!
Today is the day to remember that Jesus died for our sins by dying on the cross. He may have suffered, but since he did it for those he loved it wasn't true suffering. And remember, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger!
“Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope" ~ Romans 5:3-4