The first "place or room" where my participation in the mission of Christ occurs is in "suffering with" and "dying with" Christ.

At times we can see our pain and suffering from two different perspectives: as our portion of guilt for the death of Jesus, but also as our being drawn into his dying.  "Being drawn into" is  a passive expression which is again chosen deliberately here.  Therefore, in suffering with Jesus Christ we do not simply enter in when it is expected of us, we are called to that.  Teachers of the spiritual life attempt to describe this condition, this part of the journey, in many different ways.  John of the Cross speaks of the "nights" into which the Christian will be lead; first, into the "night of the senses" and then, much later, into the "night of the spirit".  This second night cannot be understood in any other way than being drawn into suffering with Christ.

In his "Spiritual Exercises" Ignatius  deliberately differentiates the "crises" of the first week, in which the awareness of our sin stands in the foreground, from the "third week" which draws us into the events of the Passion.  In the third week he meditates on the story of Jesus' suffering.  Many spiritual "guides" or "companions" (people working with individuals who are undertaking spiritual exercises) are of the opinion today that what happens in the third week doesn't really belong in the exercises because these experiences take place in the midst of living where God leads one.  The way of discipleship is the way of the cross.  The way of the cross does not apply only to the shorter or longer times of transition, but to the deep shaping of one's life.  The focus of the exercises for this week is being alert to the possibility that God will draw us into suffering with Christ in the way appropriate to our life and work.

This requires that we do not become hung up with the "material", but that we actually connect a specific event or condition from our ordinary life with what happened to Christ, like putting a plug into an electrical outlet ( a commonplace comparison ).  When we endeavor to make this connection again and again in the everyday, then the gesture becomes a genuine symbol.  Thereby, we declare our readiness to be drawn by Christ into his suffering.  That is good for us and necessary for the world in which we live.  So we follow the call of Jesus: "If anyone would come after me let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23).  We prepare ourselves for that day with all our weaknesses to become "worthy to suffer dishonor for the name" (Acts 5:41).  This we can do only in growing trust in the promise of Jesus: "Blessed are those who suffer for they shall be comforted" (Matt.5:4) and in certainty in the life that Paul endured:" If we have died with him, we shall also live with him" (II Tim. 2:11).