This is NOTHING!

Context is everything, they say.

Many of us can recall enduring some hardship or difficulty that directly led to something that was so good that it made the bad experience worthwhile, or at least tolerable.

Still, there are some experiences and some calamities that seem so bad that there seem to be no “upside”.

In today’s first reading (Romans 8:18-25), St. Paul reminds us of the ultimate “upside”: eternity and infinity.

I consider that the sufferings of this present time
are as nothing
compared with the glory to be revealed for us.
For creation awaits with eager expectation
the revelation of the children of God....

It may be difficult for us to imagine (after all, infinity and eternity are beyond the full grasp of the human mind), but no matter what we are suffering, the glory that awaits us will be infinitely greater and this present suffering will be nothing in comparison.

But this is not just a “pie in the sky” thing. By the grace of God we are to be witnesses of this hope of future glory NOW.

For creation awaits with eager expectation
the revelation of the children of God....