In this world there is no such thing as no suffering. We as individuals and as a community, world or otherwise, have more suffering or less suffering. It cannot be avoided. This is a fundamental and most obvious truth.

Given this most fundamental and obvious truth, it is imperative that we embrace our suffering and carry our crosses as Christ did. If we identity with Christ in his suffering, the Cross becomes bearable and we, as Christ did, will move towards the Kingdom of God. This is true of the individual and of the aggregate community in Christ. We are the body of Christ therefore, as each of us pick up our cross willfully, the body, and of course the soul, journeys towards the Kingdom of God.

We must also help each other with the weight and burden of our crosses and pray for the grace and the strength to carry the cross. As members of Christ's Church, as Christ's voice on earth, we are called to evangelize. Christ did not want anyone left behind and by extension, as Christ's body and voice here today, we do not want anyone left behind. The beauty of the Kingdom seems to be intimately connected to each of us helping each other along the narrow path and through the narrow doorway; one at a time.

The Church, as represented by the Pope, the vicar of Christ and the voice of Christ, helps and guides us to know our sin and its consequences and helps us to identify, understand, and embrace our suffering and personal crosses. There is only One Truth and only One Way to the Truth and the Beauty of the Kingdom of God.

As much as we want to avoid it, that way is through the Cross.