![\"Franks](\"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2015\/04\/Franks-Blog.png\")
<\/a>Whatever the memes say, the crosses of the real world are often sadly unworthy of epic treatment. Mothers know this all too well: after surviving a day of mopping up and washing up from all the spitting up, we kinda want a medal. OK, I\u2019ll speak for myself: where\u2019s my medal?<\/p>\nBut that\u2019s not how it works. Kids, for one, are notoriously insensible to the sacrifices of their elders, and, frankly, that\u2019s fine. If they were otherwise, they would be conscientious adults already. The problem isn\u2019t with them but with us elders. Crosses are simply more satisfying when we get some kind of positive feedback loop from them. We, you know, suffer less from them. But then they are, ahem, less like crosses. And while my Facebook friends gave me lots of sympathy for my colorful Easter\u2014thanks, guys!\u2014I sort of doubt that anyone will be singing of my maternal exploits a few centuries from now. After all, what\u2019s so heroic about doing your duty?<\/p>\n
And there\u2019s the rub. While the cheerful daily accomplishment of one\u2019s duty is indeed a quiet kind of heroism, it\u2019s not the kind that gets you written up in history books, which also makes it one of the more unpalatable kind of cross to carry. For this reason, it\u2019s often the small, unspectacular crosses that are really hard to carry.<\/p>\n
Peter had to learn this lesson. He was going to die for Christ! Yet, as Cardinal Sean O\u2019Malley put it, Peter couldn\u2019t even endure a waitress with an attitude<\/a>.<\/p>\n Peter had to come to terms with the fact that God has this tremendous ability to provide us not with the crosses we want but the crosses we need. It appears as though our heavenly Father is not all that interested in making us look good. He is, however, passionately interested in making us holy. And that might just mean allowing us a lot of tedious, unspectacular, un-epic sufferings, in the service of a life of quiet holiness.<\/p>\n So, while \u201cthe strife is o\u2019er, the battle won\u201d in the Paschal Plague of 2015, tomorrow will bring new and no doubt equally uninteresting crosses. No one will pen a screenplay about them. But perhaps, if I manage them with a modicum of cheerful and generous love, I might see them transfigured into Easter life by my Savior. So, \u201cpraise God from whom all blessings flow,\u201d even the ones that involve gross bodily fluids and lots of laundry.<\/p>\n Angela Franks<\/strong> teaches theology for Saint Joseph’s College Online.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The stats are in for my Easter! Stomach viruses: 1 Family members who succumbed: 7 Percentage of Triduum liturgies missed by me: 75% Episodes of vomiting: about 20 (sorry, I lost count) Episodes of vomiting that missed the toilet or … Continue reading