I’ve also had to go through other comments.
Thanks to those who have blessed me with their comments and may God’s light keep leading us all.

It’s not fair that an innocent, sinless human being, God Himself, suffered and died for my sins, so that I may have eternal life with Him! It’s not fair!

But that is God’s justice, and, as has been written often by the writers and commenters on this website, God is God and I am not. He knows what is just and serves to bring about His kingdom.

Jesus is with everybody who is suffering, because He Himself suffered. He is on the journey with those who struggle to take a pain-free breath, because He asphyxiated on the Cross. He died while struggling to take a pain-free breath.

He is on the journey with those who struggle to find enough food to eat, because He was poor. His parents were richly blessed spiritually, but they did not have money. He may or may not have gone hungry at times, but even if He didn’t go hungry, I doubt that their house was overflowing with food, especially living as foreign refugees in Egypt until Herod’s death.

As a sufferer of chronic pain, I used to have the “why me, God? Why are others pain-free and can do X, but I can’t? It’s not fair!” mantra. I was angry at God. But suddenly, at Mass last Palm Sunday, the opening prayer that the priest says struck me. The prayer was (paraphrasing): take a share in His patient suffering, so that you may merit a share in His glorious Resurrection.

That was it. That was my epiphany. I immediately was filled with profound peace and relief. My internal struggle (that I didn’t realize I was having, so accustomed to it had I grown) was over. I was filled with the Holy Spirit, and felt the outpouring of His Grace on me.

I realized that if God allowed His only begotten Son, and really Himself, to suffer through horrific anguish, torture, and death, then who am I to demand not to suffer? Am I better than God? Of course not! And so my suffering is far less than what Jesus experienced. And I accept it.

Mind you, I’m not happy about my pain, and I pray all the time that the Lord will take it away. That’s hope. But if the Lord chooses not to take it away, I accept the pain, and believe that much good can come from it (there is a line in the letter to the Romans about how all things can be made good for God, and that’s where my belief in that is expressed). That’s trust.

Like Joe said for Epiphany, and has said for countless reflections, we should trust in the Lord.

I also remember reading a line either on this website, or in Living Faith, or maybe elsewhere that said (paraphrasing): sometimes we sacrifice, and sometimes we *are* the sacrifice. Jesus sacrificed and was the sacrifice. He is our model of hope, trust, faith, and love.

Finally, I know that God didn’t give me my pain. My pain is a result of original sin, and consequently sin, pain, disease, and death entering our world. For more on that topic, please see Carolyn Berghuis’ reflections, in which she beautifully explains the fall of Adam and Eve, its consequences, and how God is here to help us through our lives with His love.

May the Lord bless all of you, and may He give each of us the epiphany we need.