The Feast of the Exaltation of the True Cross

Today the Church reminds the faithful of how important the cross is to our faith.
Not only do we focus on how his suffering and death on the cross redeemed us but also how he redeemed suffering itself and gave purpose to it.

That's the second part of the equation I missed for most of my Christian life. I mistakenly thought that Christ suffered only so I didn't have to. Now, I am starting to see the bigger picture. Of course He suffered and died so I can be spared the pains of hell and eternal separation from God. But also, he showed me how to live and appropriately deal with my sufferings(even as minuscule as they seem, at times, in comparison). He redeemed our sufferings here on earth, so they have meaning. St. Paul tells us we can join our suffering to his ( "add to") . That doesn't mean his suffering was insufficient as some say we Catholics believe. No, in some mystical way he allows us to participate in his suffering by allowing use to unite our suffering to his. Why? For the sake of the body of Christ, St Paul tells us in Colossians:

"I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, the church (Col 1:24)"

So on this great feast, let us remember the Cross and pray that we all "may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable to his death."