Deacon Mike Meyer / Sunday, October 5, 2025 / Categories: Blog, Homilies Offer it Up! Homily for the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C My Mom’s a pretty tough cookie. She rarely complains about aches and pains, sorrows, or hardships, and she’s seen her share. To this day, we have to guess when she has a headache or her back is bothering her because she’ll never tell us or even ask for a stinkin’ Advil. My brother, sisters, and I inherited that trait from her, for the most part, because we had no choice. You see, if we ever dared to grouse about minor bruises and scrapes, too much homework, or having to detach ourselves from the TV to do some chores, Mom would look at us dismissively and say, “Offer it up.” It was the most annoying parental platitude of my childhood, though Dad’s, “Patience is a virtue,” ran a close second. As a child, I didn’t understand what “Offer it up” really meant, but I took it to mean “Toughen up” or “Get over it,” and I didn’t think it was offered in the spirit of charity. I had no idea what good advice it really is, and I couldn’t help but think of that good advice as I considered today’s readings. The common theme running through today’s readings is keeping faith in the face of suffering and adversity. The prophet Habakkuk, in our first reading, rails against God’s failure to intervene in the injustice, destruction, and violence that plagued Judea in his time. God replies by telling Habakkuk to “wait for it;” God will act when God sees fit, and Habakkuk won’t be disappointed with the outcome. In the meantime, Habakkuk needs to endure the sufferings and keep the faith. Similarly, Saint Paul tells Timothy in our second reading to be brave, show self-control, and “bear your share of hardship,” while Jesus extols the power of faith, telling the apostles how they can accomplish incredible things with just the tiniest speck of faith. I find it difficult, though, to encourage people to have faith in the face of so much suffering today without first commenting on the question I suspect most of us share: Why does God allow suffering? While God never causes suffering, and God definitively ended all suffering through the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God allows suffering to continue in the earthly realm. Many have tried to explain why an all-good, all-knowing, and all-powerful God would permit the creation he loves to suffer from evil, but with limited success, in my opinion. Some say that suffering brings us closer to God, or suffering refines us. Others say that suffering builds character and brings us hope. All are true, but not wholly satisfying. In the end, we don’t know why God allows people to suffer. The fact remains, though, that Scripture, including today’s readings, supports our belief that God has reasons for allowing suffering to continue that we don’t fully understand at this time. All who suffer, then, have to cling to our steadfast faith that the Omnipotent God wouldn’t allow any evil, unless he could bring greater good out of it.[1] So where does that lead us? Well, back to faith. How do we keep the faith, be brave, endure, and bear our hardships when our children struggle in school or wrestle with mental illness, when our parents and their memories fade before our eyes, when our dreams and aspirations seem to grow more and more unattainable, or when we struggle just to put food on the table? I hate to say it, but we offer it up. Offer it up means uniting our suffering with Jesus’ suffering on the Cross. You see, suffering becomes more bearable when it has a meaning, like labor pains, for example. Whenever we unite our suffering with Jesus’, we share in Jesus’ suffering and in his Redemption. As a result, what seemed like meaningless suffering takes on infinite meaning. When we share in Jesus’ suffering, we cooperate with Christ in the salvation of the world. We participate in “an irreplaceable service”[2] to our brothers and sisters, full of love and meaning. As Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, where Christ is the Redeemer with a capital “R”, we become redeemers with a lower case “r”. When we unite our suffering with Jesus’ suffering, when we offer it up, we learn the difference between suffering and sacrifice: Suffering is sacrifice without love; sacrifice is suffering with love.[3] Offering it up is a tremendous act of faith that brings infinite good to all humanity, because it invokes the power of faith that Jesus talks about in today’s Gospel. Now, faith isn’t a substitute for doing whatever we can to alleviate our suffering—seeking help, proper medical care, etc. God wants us to use all the resources at our disposal to eliminate avoidable suffering. Faith is a super power that rides above these resources— it’s the “power to conquer self, [the] power to take control of [our] circumstances, [the] power to go on living when life [seems] unlivable,” and the power to “pass the breaking point and not break.”[4] When we suffer the slings and arrows of age, anxiety, or anguish, offer it up, and we’ll find the courage to endure. When we stumble under the weight of sin, sickness, or sorrow, offer it up, and we’ll summon the strength to bear our hardships. When we face the darkness of death, depression, or despair, offer it up, and we’ll discover the Light that perseveres undimmed and guides our feet into the way of peace. Offer it up, and we’ll find that the infinite power and meaning of our lives, Jesus Christ, cradles us in his loving arms every time we suffer. When Mom told me to “Offer it up,” I suspect that she really did mean “Toughen up,” or “Get over it.” That’s the kind of tough cookie she is. I don’t doubt that she understood its real meaning, though, because she’s been a shining example of loving, selfless service to others and the power to endure and bear her hardships. Mom’s living proof of the power of faith, and I’m blessed that she shared her faith with me. All three Scripture passages today and many more tell us that faith in God matters. It’s what gets us through this life and leads us to the next, a life where all suffering is conquered for good. So offer it up, and I mean that in the most charitable way possible. Readings: Habakkuk 1:2-3, 2:2-4; Psalm 95; 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14; Luke 17:5-10 [1] Augustine, Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love 3:11. [2] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Salvifici dolores (11 February 1984) 27. [3] Fulton J. Sheen, Go to Heaven: A Spiritual Roadmap to Eternity (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2017), 216. [4] William Barclay, The Letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, The New Daily Study Bible (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003), 164, 162. I Can’t Do It Alone Print 189 Please login or register to post comments.