A Catholic Reflection on the Meaning of Suffering

Aug 9th, 2009 | By Bryan Cross | Category: Blog Posts

If God is all powerful, and truly seeks our good, then why does He allow bad things
to happen to people? Why does God allow all the suffering we experience in this life,
if He loves us and is all-powerful and all-knowing? What does the Catholic Church
say about the meaning of suffering?

Job and his Wife (c. 1504)

Albrecht Drer
Stdelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt
We believe in an all-loving, all-power God. Not only does all love come from God, but
the Apostle John says that God is Love. 1 And we know that genuine love seeks the
good for the beloved.2 If you love someone, you want that person to have what is
truly good for him, what truly and most perfectly makes him happy. But God loves
us infinitely more than we love each other. Therefore we know that God wants us to
have what is good for us, what truly makes us happy.
But that is just what makes the sufferings of this present life so odd, perplexing,
even apparently contradictory. If God is all powerful, and truly seeks our good, then
why does He allow all the suffering we experience in this life?
Recently a young man I know survived a plane crash. Upon hearing the news, some
of us responded by thanking God that he survived. Another person responded to our
thanksgiving by objecting that if God existed, He would have prevented the plane
crash.3
This is the same objection we find in the new atheism. The atheist directs us to
observe all the evil and suffering around us. Obviously there cannot be a good God,
argues the atheist, because if God existed, He would not allow such meaningless,
pointless evil and suffering to occur. The common hidden assumption is that if we
cannot see for ourselves any justifying reason, then either there cannot be any such
reason, or it is not reasonable to believe that there is such a reason. In other words,
the objection presupposes that a Being infinitely greater than ourselves either does
not exist or has not revealed His goodness and love to us, and in that respect the
objection assumes precisely what it is trying to show.
It follows from atheism that suffering, tragedy, and loss are ultimately meaningless
and pointless, and hence to be avoided at all costs unless some outweighing good
can be anticipated.4 In the midst of suffering, there is the additional despair of
believing that there is no higher meaning or purpose for this suffering, nothing
redemptive about it. And that is precisely why in the atheistic philosophy, if we find
ourselves or others suffering without the foreseeable possibility of coming to a
quality of life that outweighs this suffering, it is better to end that life, all other
things being equal.5 This is why atheism tends to lead toward euthanasia, the
selective killing of the aged, the terminally ill, infants born with Down Syndrome,
and others judged to be incapable of attaining a quality of life that outweighs their
suffering so far as we can tell. But that is not the Christian understanding of
suffering.
I. The Origin of Evil and Suffering
As with most theological questions, we need to go back to the beginning. 6 The
Apostle Paul says that death came into the world through sin. 7 So, according to the
Church, what was mans original condition?
God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. (Genesis 1:31)

Everything that God made, was very good. God made all things such that they were
in harmony, as the Catechism explains:
The first man was not only created good, but was also established in friendship with
his Creator and in harmony with himself and with the creation around him, in a state
that would be surpassed only by the glory of the new creation in Christ. [O]ur first
parents, Adam and Eve, were constituted in an original state of holiness and
justice. This grace of original holiness was to share in. . .divine life. By the
radiance of this grace all dimensions of mans life were confirmed. As long as he
remained in the divine intimacy, man would not have to suffer or die. 8 The inner
harmony of the human person, the harmony between man and woman, and finally
the harmony between the first couple and all creation, comprised the state called
original justice.9
Notice the fourfold harmony: the harmony of friendship between man and God, the
harmony within man himself (his various appetites and reason, even between his
soul and body),10 the harmony between man and woman (or social between human
persons), and the harmony between man and the rest of creation. By the original
justice God gave to our first parents, they were able to remain in these ordered
harmonies. The lower powers of their soul were held subject to their reason, without
any disorder whatsoever. Even their bodies were entirely subject to their soul,
without any bodily defect.11 All created beings, excepting the angels, were subject
to man in the state of innocence. In this state, man did not have to suffer or die.
God did not design man to be in a condition of suffering or death.
So what happened? Man sinned, and by doing so forfeited the four-fold harmony by
which he was protected from suffering and death. This entire harmony of original
justice, foreseen for man in Gods plan, says the Catechism, was lost by the sin of
our first parents.12 What we now see around us is not the original perfection and
harmony of Gods creation, but a fallen world. It is still a good world that is how
we are able to recognize the resulting disharmony, against the background of the
goodness and natural order of creation but there is now disharmony in our world,
a disharmony that God did not put here.
Through mans sin, all four harmonies were lost. Mans friendship with God was lost,
because his will was turned away from loving God, and toward loving other things
more than he loved His Creator. Mans internal integrity was lost: the lower
appetites were no longer perfectly ordered to mans reason (hence concupiscence),
and mans body was no longer perfectly subject to mans soul (hence physical
suffering and death).13 And man no longer enjoyed perfect, harmonious dominion
over the rest of creation.
The teaching of the Catholic Church is quite different from that of the atheists with
regard to the origin of suffering. For the materialist atheists, nature is ultimately
impersonal, indifferent and apathetic; suffering just is. We do not like suffering, but
ultimately, suffering is neither evil or good, because ultimately there is no good or
evil; there is just matter and energy and the fundamental laws of physics. Some
suffering is the result of the actions of other people, but much suffering is simply
gratuitous, pointless, and outside the bounds of human control.

For Christians, by contrast, the Creator of all things is a perfectly good, perfectly
just,14 and perfectly loving Father. Suffering and death, and all the evils we
experience in this life, have their origin in human sin against God our Father. From a
Christian point of view, the finger that the atheist points at God, blaming Him for all
the suffering we experience, or using our suffering as an argument against Gods
existence, is man blaming God, for what man freely did in disobedience to God. 15
II. The Purposes of Suffering
While the atheist thinks his suffering is ultimately meaningless and pointless, the
Christian believes that no suffering is ultimately meaningless or pointless. Why?
Because we believe that a loving God is providentially orchestrating all things, in a
way that upholds our freedom. For that reason we believe that when God allows us
to suffer, He is doing so to protect us from a greater evil, or to lift us to a far greater
and outweighing good. God always has a good purpose in allowing suffering, even
when that purpose is inscrutable to us. As is written in the first century work called
the Didache, The workings that befall you receive as good, knowing that apart from
God nothing comes to pass. We always have a choice in our suffering, whether to
trust God as our loving Father, and receive the good gift that He is giving us, or to
rail against God in distrust and anger, as though we know better than He does what
is ultimately good for us.
What purpose or purposes does God have in allowing suffering? To answer that
question, we need to review, why, according to the Church, man is here.
We are made for eternal Life with God
God made man to be with Him in perfect happiness forever. This is what we call
Heaven, or the Beatific Vision. The Beatific Vision is the perfection of our
participation in the divine nature.16 It is eternal life. Eternal life does not mean mere
perpetual existence; that in itself would be entirely unsatisfying. Eternal life means
to participate in the very Life of the Eternal Triune God. It is the immediate
[unmediated] knowledge of God, the intuitive face-to-face vision of the divine
essence.17 To see God, who is all-perfect, and from whom all good things come,
entails that the deepest longing of our heart (i.e. our rational appetite) is perfectly
satisfied. We cannot desire anything more than God, because there is not and
cannot be any good that is not found in God.
So what is the purpose of this present life? The purpose of our present life is the
very same purpose for which Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden. This present
life is for us a period of testing, to determine where we shall be for eternity, either
with God or separated from God. So what does that have to do with suffering?
All the suffering that God allows us to experience in this life, is ultimately medicinal,
i.e. for our good in some respect, even when we do not see that we need any
treatment. God, our Father, is like a loving parent who agrees to subject his child to
a regimen of chemotherapy to cure a cancer, though the child does not see the
need for the chemotherapy, because the child does not see the cancer or its
danger.18 The comment by the person who said of the plane crash, God would have

kept them from crashing is like the child who says to his parent, If you loved me
you wouldnt be putting me through this chemotherapy. The parent is thinking, If
only you could see the danger of this cancer, you would understand that I am
subjecting you to this painful treatment only because I love you, and want you to
live. And this too, is the heart of our heavenly Father, when He allows us to endure
the sufferings of this life.
What is the great cancer, the one infinitely worse than physical cancer? According
to the Church, the great cancer is sin, and it leads to hell, i.e. eternal separation
from God. There is no greater evil than that one, nothing worse to suffer than
eternal separation from God. It is far worse to be comfortable in this life, and suffer
eternal separation from God in the life to come, than to suffer in this life, and yet
enjoy the Beatific Vision with God eternally.19
So, here let us consider some of the reasons God allows us to suffer.
(1) To awaken us to reality
Sometimes God allows suffering in order to awaken us to the fact of our sin, our
impending death and judgment, our emptiness apart from God, or to help us repent
and turn to God.
Consider the prodigal son. His suffering got to the point where he realized that
things were not the way they were supposed to be that he was miserable. His
awareness of his misery apart from his father helped provoke him to return to his
father. In the Catechism we see this:
Illness and suffering have always been among the gravest problems confronted in
human life. In illness, man experiences his powerlessness, his limitations, and his
finitude. Every illness can make us glimpse death. Illness can lead to anguish, selfabsorption, sometimes even despair and revolt against God. It can also make a
person more mature, helping him discern in his life what is not essential so that he
can turn toward that which is. Very often illness provokes a search for God and a
return to him.20
Notice that suffering is not a magic bullet or a panacea. We can respond to it in two
ultimate ways, either by turning toward God in trust, or by turning away from God in
distrust and anger. St. Thomas Aquinas, drawing from St. Gregory the Great, says,
the evils which bear us down here drive us to go to God. 21 But we can harden our
hearts and turn away from God even more, in our suffering. 22
God sometimes allows suffering into our lives to provoke us to search for Him, and
to realize that this present life is not our final end, but a temporary test in which our
eternal destiny is determined.23
(2) To test us
The Catechism teaches: Faith in God the Father Almighty can be put to the test by
the experience of evil and suffering.24 We see this in the example of Job.

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the
LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, From where do
you come? Then Satan answered the LORD and said, From roaming about on the
earth and walking around on it. The LORD said to Satan, Have you considered My
servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man,
fearing God and turning away from evil. Then Satan answered the LORD, Does Job
fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all
that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his
possessions have increased in the land. But put forth Your hand now and touch all
that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face. Then the LORD said to Satan,
Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.
So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD. 25
The test of Job is an example of a test among the larger test that is this present life.
These tests are opportunities for us to choose whom we will serve. They
demonstrate whether we truly love God, or whether we only have a friendship of
utility with God. If we continue to trust and serve God, even in the midst of
suffering, we show that our friendship with God is not one of utility. But if in
response to the removal of the comforts of this life we turn against God and curse
Him, we show that our love for God is only for what He gives us, and not a love of
friendship.26
(3) To discipline us, to teach us humility and trust, and to work
righteousness into us
But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be
condemned along with the world. (1 Cor 11:32)
My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when
reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son
whom he receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you
as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left
without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children
and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we
respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?
For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines
us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline
seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of
righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:5-11)
Commenting on this Aquinas says, All the saints who have pleased God have gone
through many tribulations by which they were made the sons of God. 27 As sons of
God, through our union with Christ the Son, we expect to be disciplined by God our
Father. We recognize that our loving Father has some good reason for disciplining
us, even when we cannot see what it is. Because we know that God has some good
reason for allowing us to suffer, we respond to this suffering by seeking to learn
what He is trying to teach us.
In Salvifici Doloris, Pope John Paul II wrote:

Suffering must serve for conversion, that is, for the rebuilding of goodness in the
subject, who can recognize the divine mercy in this call to repentance. 28
But we should not assume that all instances of suffering are punishment for specific
sins. That was the error of Jobs comforters. 29 It was also the error of Jesuss
disciples when they saw a blind man:
As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him,
Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind? Jesus
answered, It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that
the works of God might be displayed in him. 30
Or consider Jesus reply in Luke 13:
Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about
the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to
them, Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other
Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you
will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower
in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in
Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. And He
began telling this parable: A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his
vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. And he said to
the vineyard-keeper, Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig
tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground? And he
answered and said to him, Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and
put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down. 31
What do we learn here? Jesus is teaching the people that in response to the deaths
of the victims of Pilate and the falling tower in Siloam, the proper response is not to
consider such persons to be more guilty than those who survived, but rather to
consider that it was only by Gods mercy that we were not among them, so that we
may repent, and pursue righteousness, before our approaching death. Jesus is less
concerned about the deaths, and far more concerned about preparing for death.
That is because Jesus recognizes that the second death (i.e. eternal separation from
God) is infinitely worse than physical death.
(4) To give us an opportunity to love God, to give God glory, to merit glory,
and to participate in His work of redemption
With respect to suffering and evil, Christianity turns the atheistic position on its
head. While the atheist sees suffering as evidence that God does not exist, the
Christian sees suffering as a great gift from God. It is a gift of mercy by which we
are being led to repentance and eternal life. 32 It is also a gift by which we know that
God is working some great good in us. In addition, it is another sort of divine gift, an
opportunity to give something great to God, just as Christ did in accepting His
sufferings. Finally, for a Catholic, suffering is an opportunity to participate in Christs
sufferings, sharing in the fellowship of His sufferings.

Here is an example of the way Christianity turns suffering on its head. St. Gregory
the Great, commenting on the book of Job, writes that Gods providential ways,
though difficult to understand, are
still more mysterious when things go well with good people here, and ill with bad
people . . . . When things go well with good people here, and ill with bad people, a
great uncertainty arises whether good people receive good so that they might be
stimulated to grow into something [even] better or whether by a just and secret
judgment they see the rewards of their deeds here so that they may be void of the
rewards of the life to come. . . . Therefore since the human mind is hemmed in by
the thick fog of its uncertainty among the divine judgments, when holy people se
the prosperity of this world coming to them, they are troubled with a frightening
suspicion. For they are afraid that they might receive the fruits of their labors here;
they are afraid that divine justice detects a secret wound in them and, heaping
external rewards on them, drives them away from internal ones. . . . Consequently,
holy people are more fearful of prosperity in this world than of adversity. 33
For the Christian, says St. Gregory, one should be more concerned when things go
well here, than when one faces suffering and loss and trials. Sufferings and trials in
this life are evidence that God our Father loves us, and is working in us to prepare
us for Heaven, and the rewards to be received in the life to come. But the one who
comes into prosperity and ease in this life, should be concerned that he is receiving
his reward in this life, instead of in the life to come.
Here is more turning of suffering on its head: In Colossians, St. Paul writes,
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake. (Col 1:24)
through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God(Acts 14:22)
The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy
of suffering disgrace for the Name. (Acts 5:41)
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering
produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope
does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the
Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Romans 5:3-5) 34
The early Christian martyrs all had the same attitude. Why did the early Christians
rejoicing in their suffering? Notice the contrast with those who think that suffering is
pointless. Atheists cannot rejoice in their sufferings, because they have no reason to
do so. But the early Christians saw things quite differently from those around them.
They saw this present world already, as it were, from the perspective of the life to
come. Suffering for Christ, in this present life, is a great honor, when seen from the
divine perspective. And this is the Catholic perspective, that when we suffer, our
suffering is an opportunity both to grow in our faith and love for God, but also to
honor and glorify God, by loving Him in the midst of our sufferings, and so storing
up an incomparable reward in the life to come.

Contrast the Catholic perspective on suffering with that of what is called the Health
and Wealth gospel. According to that position, since Christ on the cross paid the
full price for the salvation of our soul and body, therefore, all Christians should be
wealthy and healthy in this life. There is no point to suffering, because Christ has
already suffered for us. All suffering must therefore be of the devil, due to a lack of
faith. This is a logical extension of the error of monergism. The monergistic idea is
that since Christ suffered for us, therefore we do not need to suffer. And since
Christs suffering was redemptive, therefore our suffering is not redemptive. This
position fails to recognize that in our suffering we are given the great gift, through
our union with Christ, of participating in Christs own sufferings. Our suffering is not
meaningless, but meaningful precisely because it is joined to Christs own
sufferings, as a sharing in His suffering.
In Romans 8, St. Paul writes:
Now if we are children, then we are heirsheirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if
indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I
consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will
be revealed in us.35
This is the gospel; it is a gospel of suffering. If any man would come after me let
him take up his cross daily.36 Elsewhere Jesus says, Be faithful, even to the point of
death, and I will give you the crown of life. 37 Only when we take up our cross can
we begin to understand the meaning of redemptive suffering. We cannot see its
meaning in the stance of resistance or distrust. And this is why the atheist cannot
see it. Only from the stance of humble trust does the possibility of its meaning come
into our field of vision.
For a Catholic, suffering is even an opportunity for merit. What do we mean by
merit? Aquinas writes,
Merit implies a certain equality of justice: hence the Apostle says (Romans 4:4):
Now to him that worketh, the reward is reckoned according to debt. But when
anyone by reason of his unjust will ascribes to himself something beyond his due, it
is only just that he be deprived of something else which is his due; thus, when a
man steals a sheep he shall pay back four (Exodus 22:1). And he is said to deserve
it, inasmuch as his unjust will is chastised thereby. So likewise when any man
through his just will has stripped himself of what he ought to have, he deserves that
something further be granted to him as the reward of his just will. And hence it is
written (Luke 14:11): He that humbleth himself shall be exalted. 38
In this way, by embracing the cross of suffering given to us in this life, those in a
state of grace may merit an eternal reward. In 2 Thessalonians St. Paul says,
We ourselves boast of you for your steadfastness and faith in all your
persecutions and in the afflictions which you are enduring. This is evidence of the
righteous judgment of God, that you may be made worthy of the Kingdom of God,
for which you are suffering39

Notice that by being steadfast in faith, in the midst of their persecutions and
afflictions, the Thessalonian believers were being made worthy of the Kingdom of
God. Pope John Paul II says of this passage, Thus to share in the sufferings of Christ
is, at the same time, to suffer for the Kingdom of God. In the eyes of the just God,
before his judgment, those who share in the suffering of Christ become worthy of
this Kingdom. Through their sufferings, in a certain sense they repay the infinite
price of the Passion and death of Christ, which became the price of our
Redemption.40
Christ did not remove concupiscence from us at baptism. Why?
Yet certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as suffering,
illness, death, and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses of character, and so
on, as well as an inclination to sin that Tradition calls concupiscence, or
metaphorically, the tinder for sin (fomes peccati); since concupiscence is left for
us to wrestle with, it cannot harm those who do not consent but manfully resist it
by the grace of Jesus Christ. Indeed, an athlete is not crowned unless he
competes according to the rules. 41
Baptism, by imparting the life of Christs grace, erases original sin and turns a man
back towards God, but the consequences for nature, weakened and inclined to evil,
persist in man and summon him to spiritual battle.42 According to the Church,
one reason Christ does not remove concupiscence from us at baptism is precisely to
allow us a greater opportunity for merit. By manfully resisting our disordered lower
appetites, out of love for God, we merit a greater reward than would those without
concupiscence.
III. How do we participate in Christs Sufferings?
Because we are joined to Him, as members of His Body. Pope Pius XII wrote:
Because Christ the Head holds such an eminent position, one must not think that he
does not require the help of the Body. What Paul said of the human organism is to
be applied likewise to the Mystical Body: The head cannot say to the feet: I have no
need of you. It is manifestly clear that the faithful need the help of the Divine
Redeemer, for He has said: Without me you can do nothing, and according to the
teaching of the Apostle every advance of this Mystical Body towards its perfection
derives from Christ the Head. Yet this, also, must be held, marvelous though it may
seem: Christ has need of His members. First, because the person of Jesus Christ is
represented by the Supreme Pontiff, who in turn must call on others to share much
of his solicitude lest he be overwhelmed by the burden of his pastoral office, and
must be helped daily by the prayers of the Church. Moreover as our Savior does not
rule the Church directly in a visible manner, He wills to be helped by the members
of His Body in carrying out the work of redemption. That is not because He is
indigent and weak, but rather because He has so willed it for the greater glory of His
spotless Spouse. Dying on the Cross He left to His Church the immense treasury of
the Redemption, towards which she contributed nothing. But when those graces
come to be distributed, not only does He share this work of sanctification with His
Church, but He wills that in some way it be due to her action. This is a deep

mystery, and an inexhaustible subject of meditation, that the salvation of many

depends on the prayers and voluntary penances which the members of the Mystical
Body of Jesus Christ offer for this intention and on the cooperation of pastors of
souls and of the faithful, especially of fathers and mothers of families, a cooperation
which they must offer to our Divine Savior as though they were His associates. 43
Because we are joined to Christ, our suffering is joined with His, and participates in
the Redemption He accomplished. The New Testament authors teach this same
thing.
If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part
rejoices with it.44
For as we share abundantly in Christs sufferings, so through Christ we share
abundantly in comfort too.45
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to
despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always
carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be
manifested in our bodies. For while we live we are always being given up to death
for Jesus sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh .
knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus. 46
That I may know him (Christ) and the power of his Resurrection, and may share his
sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible I may attain the
resurrection from the dead.47
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on
behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christs
afflictions.48
Does that mean that Christs work was insufficient? No, Christs work was sufficient
for its purpose. But God has graciously allowed us to participate in Christs work of
redeeming the world, the greatest of all Gods works. Pope John Paul II writes:
For, whoever suffers in union with Christ just as the Apostle Paul bears his
tribulations in union with Christ not only receives from Christ that strength
already referred to but also completes by his suffering what is lacking in Christs
afflictions.49
Those who share in the sufferings of Christ preserve in their own sufferings a very
special particle of the infinite treasure of the worlds Redemption, and can share this
treasure with others.50
Mary is the exemplar of suffering in union with Christ, as she was told by Simeon,
and a sword will pierce even your own soul. 51 When St. Paul writes, For we are
Gods co-workers52 that is not just for Paul or for the Apostles, but for all of us who
are joined to Christ through baptism. By our union with Christ, our suffering gets to
count, as a participation in His suffering; our suffering becomes meaningful in the
realm of eternity.

Pope John Paul II writes:

In the Cross of Christ not only is the Redemption accomplished through suffering,
but also human suffering itself has been redeemed,. Every man has his own
share in the Redemption. Each one is also called to share in that suffering through
which the Redemption was accomplished. He is called to share in that suffering
through which all human suffering has also been redeemed. In bringing about the
Redemption through suffering, Christ has also raised human suffering to the level of
the Redemption. Thus each man, in his suffering, can also become a sharer in the
redemptive suffering of Christ.53
Offering it up
Spend enough time with Catholics, and you will hear the phrase, Offer it up. The
phrase is typically heard as a reply to a list of personal woes. So what does this
phrase mean? We are priests of God by our baptism. 54 We are not ministerial priests,
who offer up the sacrifice of Christ upon the altar at holy Mass. But, as nonministerial priests, we do offer something to God: our bodies, our actions, our labor,
and even our sufferings.
I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies
as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 55
We offer up our lives and our sufferings formally, in the Mass, by consciously
offering ourselves up with our sufferings, along with Christ to God the Father during
the Offertory. Informally, we offer it up simply by asking God, in the midst of our
suffering, to join our suffering to Christs, and to use our suffering.
How should we respond to suffering?
By worshiping God:
Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and
worshiped. He said, Naked I came from my mothers womb, And naked I shall
return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of
the LORD. Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God. 56
By examining our hearts: Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith.
Test yourselves.57
By offering our sufferings up to God: Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must
pray58
By giving thanks: in everything give thanks; for this is Gods will for you in Christ
Jesus.59
By rejoicing that we have been counted worthy to suffer for Christ: Now I rejoice in
my sufferings for your sake.60
By looking to Christs example, who suffered for us to demonstrate to us both the
magnitude of our sin and the greater magnitude of His infinite love for us. He

received the cup of suffering from His Father, in humble obedience, and in doing so
perfectly demonstrated His love for the Father:
And He also says, Shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given me? 61
My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will,
but as thou wilt, My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, thy will be
done62
By looking to Christs return and the life to come:
Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ.63
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also
lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us
run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the
author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 64
And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is
among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God
Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and
there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or
pain; the first things have passed away. 65
Conclusion
The relation between our present life and the life to come is the condition for the
meaningfulness of our sufferings in this present life. The gospel shows us that
suffering is an opportunity given to us to participate in our future blessedness by
offering our present sufferings, in union with Christs sufferings, to God in self-giving
sacrifice. Our suffering then takes on a whole different dimension, transformed from
the occasion of a fist-shaking interrogation of God or cause for doubting His
goodness or existence into the greatest opportunity to show Him trust and selfdonation, without the least futility, knowing that it will be repaid a hundred fold.
(Matt 19:26) This is why the Christian martyrs rejoiced when they were chosen for
martyrdom, and why after being flogged the Apostles went away rejoicing that
they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. (Acts 5:41) Apart
from the gospel, much of our suffering would seem gratuitous and even sinister. But
in the light of the gospel we see that our suffering is a gift, a gift of the same sort as
this present life, but even greater. It is the gift of an opportunity to give ourselves
entirely to God in the greatest possible expression of love, i.e. sacrifice: Greater
love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
Jesus Christ, when He redeemed us with plentiful redemption, took not away the
pains and sorrows which in such large proportion are woven together in the web of
our mortal life. He transformed them into motives of virtue and occasions of merit;
and no man can hope for eternal reward unless he follow in the blood-stained
footprints of his Saviour. If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him.

Christs labors and sufferings, accepted of His own free will, have marvellously
sweetened all suffering and all labor. And not only by His example, but by His grace
and by the hope held forth of everlasting recompense, has He made pain and grief
more easy to endure; for that which is at present momentary and light of our
tribulation, worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory.
(Rerum Novarum, 21)
1. 1 John 4:8. [

2. As Aristotle says (Rhet. ii, 4), to love is to wish good to someone. Quoted in
Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-I Q.26 a.4. [
]

3. That response reminded me of Marthas statement to Jesus: Lord, if You had

been here, my brother would not have died. (John 11:21) It is possible that
Martha was simply making a statement of faith in Christs power. But it is also
possible that Martha was indirectly chiding Jesus for not arriving sooner. In
her mind, Lazarus died because of Christs absence, since if Christ had been
present, Christ would have done what Martha thought should be done. The
third option: Christ, being God, stayed away on purpose, because He had a
higher purpose, did not enter her mind. [
]

4. Without the vision of faith one has a sense of the uselessness of suffering.
Pope John Paul II, Salvifici Doloris. [
]

5. This is not stoicism, which sought to endure suffering. In this philosophy,

suffering is the greatest evil. But in Christianity, sin is the greatest evil. [
]

6. Jesus does this when asked about divorce. Cf. Matthew 19:4ff, and Mark 10:6.
[
]

7. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death
through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned (Romans
5:12) [
]

8. for in the day you eat from it, you shall surely die. (Gen 2:17) [

9. CCC 373-376 [

10.The mastery over the world that God offered man from the beginning was
realized above all within man himself: mastery of self. The first man was
unimpaired and ordered in his whole being because he was free from the
triple concupiscence that subjugates him to the pleasures of the senses,
covetousness for earthly goods, and self-assertion, contrary to the dictates of
reason. (CCC 377) [
]

11.The four preternatural gifts had by our first parents were: infused knowledge,
immortality, impassibility, and integrity (human appetites being completely
submitted to the human intellect. How did the loss of immortality result from
sin? Aquinas explains in Summa Theologica II-I Q.85 a.6 that just as iron is
breakable and disposed to rust, so likewise the body is corruptible due to a
condition of matter (for matter is naturally corruptible) though its
corruptibility was not the reason it was chosen to be that which the soul
informed. In forming man, God supplied the defect of nature [defectum
naturae], and by the gift of original justice, which ordered the corruptible
body to the incorruptible soul, gave to the body a certain incorruptibility
[incorruptibilitatem quandam], one that is extrinsic to the body as such, and
dependent upon its ordered relation to something else. By the gift of original
justice the body was not made intrinsically incorruptible, but by this gift the
body was made incorruptible-by-relation to the soul. So when Adam and Eve
forfeited their original justice through sin, they thereby forfeited the mediated
incorruptibility their bodies had enjoyed. Death thus entered into the world,
through sin. [
]

12.CCC 379 [

13.St. Augustine wrote, For it certainly was not just that obedience should be
rendered by his servant, that is, his body, to him, who had not obeyed his
own Lord. (On Marriage and Concupiscence, I.7.) [
]

14.For thou art just in all that thou hast done to us, and all thy works are true
and thy ways right, and all thy judgments are truth. Thou hast executed true
judgments in all that thou hast brought upon us for in truth and justice thou
hast brought all this upon us because of our sins. (Daniel 3:4-5) [
]

15.Ultimately there are three options. (1) There is no God; there is no ultimately
reason for suffering and death. (2) God is evil, in which case there again is
ultimately no good reason for suffering and death. (3) God is good and loving,
and thus has a good reason for allowing us to suffer and die. [
]

16.2 Peter 1:4 [

17.Cf. Benedictus Deus [On the Beatific Vision of God], Pope Benedict XII,
1336. [
]

18.I have drawn this illustration from Eleonore Stump. [

19.As Jesus said:

If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better
for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown
into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it
is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to
go into hell. (Matthew 5:29-30)
[

20.CCC 1500-1501 [

21.Aquinass Commentary on First Thessalonians. [

22.They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God,
who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify
him. The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his
kingdom was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues in agony and
cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they
refused to repent of what they had done. (Rev 16:9-11) [
]

23.We see this already in Gods response to the first mans sin:
Then the LORD God said, Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing
good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree
of life, and eat, and live forever. (Gen 3:22)

It was merciful of God to allow us to die, so that we might be resurrected, rather

than live forever in a sinful condition. [
]

24.God can sometimes seem to be absent and incapable of stopping evil. But in
the most mysterious way God the Father has revealed his almighty power in
the voluntary humiliation and Resurrection of his Son, by which he conquered
evil. Christ crucified is thus the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the
foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger
than men. It is in Christs Resurrection and exaltation that the Father has
shown forth the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe.
(CCC, 272) [
]

25.Job 1:6-12. [

26.For Aristotles distinction between friendship of utility and true friendship,

see Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII. For Aquinas distinction between love of
concupiscence and love of friendship, see my Love and Unity: Part 3. [
]

27.Aquinas, Commentary on Hebrews. [

28.Salvifici Doloris, 12 [

29.Aquinas writes: If in this life human beings are rewarded by God for good
deeds and punished for bad, as Eliphaz was endeavoring to establish, it
apparently follows that the ultimate goal for human beings is in this life. But
Job intends to rebut this opinion, and he wants to show that the present life of
human beings doesnt contain that ultimately goal . Expositio super Job,
7.1-4. [
]

30.John 9:1-3. [

31.Luke 13:1-9 [

32.Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and
patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
(Romans 2:4) [
]

33.St. Gregory the Great, Moralia in Job, book 5, introduction. [

34.Commenting on this passage in Romans 5, St. Thomas Aquinas writes, It is a

sign of the ardent hope which we have on account of Christ that we glory not
only because of [our] hope of the glory to come, but we glory even regarding
the evils which we suffer for it. And so Paul says that we not only glory (that
is, in our hope of glory), but we glory even in our tribulations, by which we
attain to glory. [
]

35.Rom 8:17-18. [

36.Luke 9:23 [

37.Revelation 2:10. [

38.Summa Theologica III Q.49 a.6 [

39.2 Thess 1:4-5. [

40.Salvifici Doloris, 21. [

41.CCC 1264, quoting 2 Tim 2:5. [

42.CCC 405. [

43.Pope Pius XII, Mystici Corporis Christi, 44. [

44.1 Cor 12:26 [

45.2 Cor 1:5 [

46.2 Cor 4:8-11, 14 [

47.Phil 3:10-11 [

48.Col 1:24 [

49.Salvifici Doloris, 24. The sufferings of Christ created the good of the worlds
redemption. This good in itself is inexhaustible and infinite. No man can add
anything to it. But at the same time, in the mystery of the Church as his
Body, Christ has in a sense opened his own redemptive suffering to all human
suffering. In so far as man becomes a sharer in Christs sufferingsin any
part of the world and at any time in historyto that extent he in his own way
completes the suffering through which Christ accomplished the Redemption
of the world. Does this mean that the Redemption achieved by Christ is not
complete? No. It only means that the Redemption, accomplished through
satisfactory love, remains always open to all love expressed in human
suffering. [
]

50.Salvifici Doloris, 27 [

51.Luke 2:35 [

52.1 Cor 3:9 [

53.Salvifici Doloris, 19. See also Pope John Paul IIs General Audience of
November 9, 1988, titled The Meaning of Suffering in the Light of Christs
Passion. [
]

54.1 Peter 2:9-10 [

55.Romans 12:1 [

56.Job 1:20-22 [

57.2 Cor 13:5 [

58.James 5:13 [

59.1 Thess 5:18 [

60.Col 1:24 [

61.John 18:11 [

62.Matthew 26:39, 42 [

63.1 Peter 1:13 [

64.Heb 12:1-2 [

65.Revelation 21:3-4 [

A Popes Answer to the Problem of Pain

By: Christopher Kaczor

He was in third grade when his mother died; his only sibling, an older brother, died
three years later; he discovered his father dead on the floor in their apartment.
Karol Wojtyla was an orphan at twenty. Nor were his troubles were not limited to the
loss of his whole family. The Nazis overran his country, and he did hard labor in a
stone quarry. During the Nazi rule, many of his friends were killed, some in
concentration camps, others shot by the Gestapo for the crime of studying for the
priesthood. He was run down by a German truck and nearly died. When the Nazis
finally left his beloved Poland, he and his countrymen again came under the rule of
a dictator when the iron boot of Joseph Stalin replaced that of Adolf Hitler. Later in
life, his beloved Church was torn apart by the storm that followed the Second
Vatican Council. At sixty, an Islamic assassin shot him in his own front yard, and he
nearly died again. As an old man, he suffered from debilitating Parkinsons disease
that rendered him immobile, distorted his physical appearance, and finally took his
ability to speak. Pope John Paul II knew about human suffering.

Yet, as was evident to all who saw him, he was a man overflowing with joy. He
experienced the mystery of suffering and the affliction endured by every single
human person, but he also discovered the meaning of suffering. He had found an
"answer" to the problem of pain.

An Inescapable Feature

He explored this theme in his apostolic letter Salvifici Doloris (On the Christian
Meaning of Human Suffering). Suffering is part of human existence from birth until
death, and every human person suffers in a variety of ways: physically,
psychologically, socially, and spiritually. The Bible provides many examples: ones
own death, the danger of death, the death of children or friends, sterility,
homesickness, persecution, mockery, scorn, loneliness, abandonment, remorse,
watching the wicked prosper while the just suffer, the unfaithfulness of spouse and
friends, and the misfortunes of ones homeland (SD 6). Suffering in one form or
another accompanies each of us every day. It is an inescapable feature of human
existence.

Suffering naturally leads to questioning. Why do I suffer? Why do others suffer? How
can suffering be overcome? Is there any meaning to suffering? To find an answer,
John Paul turned to revelation:

In order to perceive the true answer to the "why" of suffering, we must look to the
revelation of divine love, the ultimate source of the meaning of everything that
exists. Love is also the richest source of the meaning of suffering, which always
remains a mystery: We are conscious of the insufficiency and inadequacy of our
explanations. Christ causes us to enter into the mystery and to discover the "why"
of suffering, as far as we are capable of gasping the sublimity of divine love. In
order to discover the profound meaning of suffering . . . we must above all accept
the light of revelation. . . . Love is also the fullest source of the answer to the
question of the meaning of suffering. This answer has been given by God to man in
the cross of Jesus Christ. (SD 13)

For John Paul, the story of Jesus Christ is the story of humanity. Every human life is a
question, and it is the Lord who answers the question. Therefore we must look to
Christ to understand the meaning of suffering. But our understanding of God is
fragile and incomplete, because we are not capable of comprehending pure love
and goodness. It follows, then, that our understanding of suffering cannot be
definitive. This is especially true when we are dealing with suffering in its subjective
dimension. Words fall far short when we are undergoing suffering, and reasoning
cannot remedy the profound sense of the offensiveness of suffering.

In looking for an answer to the "problem of pain," the Pope avoided reducing all
suffering to a single justification but looked at various.aspects and meanings of
suffering. Reducing suffering to a single solution does not do justice to its
complexities.

Charity

Sometimes suffering makes an important good possible. If God eliminated that

suffering, the corresponding good also would be eliminated.

We could say that suffering . . . is present in order to unleash love in the human
person, that unselfish gift of ones "I" on behalf of other people, especially those
who suffer. The world of human suffering unceasingly calls for, so to speak, another
world: the world of human love; and in a certain sense man owes to suffering that
unselfish love that stirs in his heart and actions. (SD 29)

Humility

Suffering can bring us closer to what is good and can draw us away from obstacles
to achieving happiness. Pain can prompt rehabilitation, a turning from evil to
embrace stronger relationships with others and with God (SD 12). Suffering breaks
down that most fundamental of human proclivities: our desire to be God. The
atheistic existentialist Jean Paul Sartre wrote: "To be man is to reach toward being
God. Or, if you prefer, man fundamentally is the desire to be God." The original sin
of Adam and Eve was an attempt to reorder the universe so they could determine
what is good and what is evil. This is replicated in every human sin. The sinner
orders the universe according to his own will and sets aside the will of God.
Suffering is redemptive in part because it reveals to man that he is not God,
rendering him more receptive to the divine:

To suffer means to become particularly susceptible, particularly open to the working

of the salvific powers of God, offered to humanity in Christ. In him God has
confirmed his desire to act especially through suffering, which is mans weakness
and emptying of self, and he wishes to make his power known precisely in this
weakness and emptying of self. (SD 23)

Only when we are weak do many of us rely on God and explicitly repudiate our own
divine ambitions.

Transformation

History provides many examples of sinners transformed into saints through

suffering.

Down through the centuries and generations it has been seen that in suffering there
is concealed a particular power that draws a person interiorly close to Christ, a
special grace. To this grace many saints, such as St. Francis of Assisi, St. Ignatius of
Loyola, and others, owe their profound conversion. A result of such a conversion is
not only that the individual discovers the salvific meaning of suffering but above all
that he becomes a completely new person. He discovers a new dimension, as it
were, of his entire life and vocation. (SD 26)

It may be that some suffering is permitted by God as a way of waking someone

from a dream of self-sufficiency or illusory happiness. Life-saving surgery is painful.

Punishment

Often our sinful actions lead directly to painful repercussionsthe drinking binge
leads to the hangover, unreasonable anger to injured relationships, laziness to lack
of achievement. Suffering can serve as punishment for wrongdoing, a just
retribution for personal sins.

The friends of Job sought to universalize this judgment, falsely concluding that all
suffering is the direct result of a persons sin. If Job is punished, they reasoned, he
must have sinned against God. But the innocent do suffer:

While it is true that suffering has a meaning as punishment, when it is connected

with a fault, it is not true that all suffering is a consequence of a fault and has the
nature of a punishment. The figure of the just man Job is a special proof of this in
the Old Testament. (SD 11)

In the New Testament, Christ teaches the same truth by his Passion. The Lamb of
Godwho is entirely without faultendured rejection, beating, taunting, flogging,
and crucifixion at the hands of evil men. By suffering himself, the Son of God
removed the moral stigma from suffering. No longer could it be said that personal
suffering always indicates moral failure nor that it is a sign of Gods abandonment
or disfavor.

Christs Suffering

Christ strikes at the root of our sin and our suffering by overcoming evil with good.
Indeed, the suffering of Christ overcomes the worst possible suffering of the human
personpermanent alienation from God, the source and summit of all goodness. All
suffering in this lifelike all happinessis imperfect, partial, and finite. Even the
worst possible human life, spread over the longest spans, comes to an end. Hell
does not. It lasts forever. In comparison to the pains of hell, the worst human
suffering on earth pales. Jesus saves his people from hell.

The only begotten Son was given to humanity primarily to protect man against this
definitive evil and against definitive suffering. In his salvific mission, the Son must
therefore strike evil right at its transcendental roots from which it develops in
human history. These transcendental roots of evil are grounded in sin and death: for
they are at the basis of the loss of eternal life. The mission of the only begotten Son
consists in conquering sin and death. He conquers sin by his obedience unto death,
and he overcomes death by his Resurrection. (SD 14)

Jesus saves us from the suffering by entering into it. The physical pain endured by
Christ is well beyond what most of us have personally experienced: beaten by
soldiers, imprisoned, scourged at the pillar, crowned with thorns, forced to carry the
cross, and finally dying by crucifixion.

His suffering has human dimensions; it also is unique in the history of humanitya
depth and intensity that, while being human, can also be an incomparable depth
and intensity of suffering, insofar as the man who suffers is in person the only
begotten Son himself: "God from God." Therefore, only hethe only begotten Son
is capable of embracing the measure of evil contained in the sin of man: In every sin

and in "total" sin, according to the dimensions of the historical existence of

humanity on earth. (SD 17)

John Paul echoes a long tradition, going back at least to the time of St. Thomas
Aquinas, that the physical, mental, and spiritual suffering of Christ was the greatest
human suffering possible. In addition to the physical pain of the passion, he endured
the greatest pain of all: alienation from the heavenly Father caused by the totality of
human sin.

Suffering and Salvation

What comes of this great suffering? What is its purpose in the divine plan? From the
greatest possible evil, God brings about the greatest good: the salvation of the
human family, redemption from pain and suffering for those who do not merit it.

Precisely by means of this suffering [Jesus] must bring it about "that man should not
perish, but have eternal life." Precisely by means of his cross he must strike at the
roots of evil, planted in the history of man and in human souls. Precisely by means
of his cross he must accomplish the work of salvation. (SD 16)

The suffering of Christ redeems suffering itself and opens up the possibility that the
sufferer can share in the redemptive work of Christ (SD 19). The suffering of Christ
leads to his glory; so, too, does the suffering of Christians. "Blessed are those who
are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed
are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against
you falsely on my account" (Matt. 5:1011). John Paul wrote:

Christ has in a sense opened his own redemptive suffering to all human suffering. . .
. Christ has accomplished the worlds redemption through his own suffering. For, at
the same time, this redemption, even though it was completely achieved by Christs
suffering, lives on and in its own special way develops in the history of man. It lives
and develops as the body of Christ, the Church, and in this dimension every human
suffering, by reason of the loving union with Christ, completes the suffering of
Christ. It completes that suffering just as the Church completes the redemptive work
of Christ. (SD 24)

The Christian approach to the problem of pain does not imply an indifference to
human suffering, and for this reason Christians have always sought to express their
faith in charitable works.

Christs revelation of the salvific meaning of suffering is in no way identified with an

attitude of passivity. Completely the reverse is true. The gospel is the negation of
passivity in the face of suffering. Christ himself is especially active in this field. (SD
30)

The works of Christ were to restore sight to the blind, heal the leper, and give food
to the hungry. He taught that we should love God and neighbor and gave us the
parable of the good Samaritan to illustrate the duty of all Christians to look after the
needs of others. The final judgment hinges on our care for suffering people:

Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and
you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. (Matt. 25:34-35)

A Reason to Live

Christs approach to the problem of pain is not an intellectual answer to an

academic puzzle. Not every problem is abstract, intellectual, or academic. Theodicy
reconciling the existence of an all-good God with evilcan be tackled in this
manner, but the problem of real pain is concrete, experiential, and personal. Its
resolution does not come through words but through the Word alone. As the great
Pope put it:

Christ does not answer directly and he does not answer in the abstract this human
questioning about the meaning of suffering. Man hears Christs saving answer as he
himself gradually becomes a sharer in the sufferings of Christ. The answer that
comes through this sharing, by way of the interior encounter with the Master, is in
itself something more than the mere abstract answer to the question about the
meaning of suffering. For it is above all a call. It is a vocation. Christ does not
explain in the abstract the reasons for suffering, but before all else he says: "Follow
me!" Come! Take part through your suffering in this work of saving the world, a

salvation achieved through my suffering! Through my cross. Gradually, as the

individual takes up his cross, spiritually uniting himself to the cross of Christ, the
salvific meaning of suffering is revealed before him. (SD 26)

The author Victor Frankel in his book Mans Search for Meaning describes his
horrifying experiences in Nazi concentration camps. He notes that although all the
prisoners were in the same material circumstancesthe most horrible imaginable
they did not all react in the same way. Some prisoners killed themselves by walking
into electrified fences; others clung to life and even found joy despite the atrocities
occurring around them daily. What made the difference? One way to put it is that
man can endure anything if he has a reason (logos) to live. Conversely, man can
endure nothing if he does not.

A source of joy is found in the overcoming of the sense of the uselessness of

suffering, a feeling that is sometimes very strongly rooted in human suffering. This
feeling not only consumes the person interiorly but seems to make him a burden to
others. The person feels condemned to receive help and assistance from others and
at the same time seems useless to himself. The discovery of the salvific meaning of
suffering in union with Christ transforms this depressing feeling. Faith in sharing in
the suffering of Christ brings with it the interior certainty that the suffering person
"completes what is lacking in Christs afflictions"; the certainty that in the spiritual
dimension of the work of redemption he is serving, like Christ, the salvation of his
brothers and sisters. Therefore he is carrying out an irreplaceable service. (SD 27)

Christ gives us a reason to live, however much we suffer.

Gospel Commentary: The Mystery of Suffering

By Fr. Lee W. Gross HERALD Columnist

Ever since human beings first began to think reflectively about life and its meaning,
a major theme of all religions and philosophies has been the mystery of suffering.
Faced with the reality of suffering, especially what may seem needless or innocent
or senseless suffering, the heart of every person cries out, "Why?"

If we had the power, we think, we could make sure that children would not starve or
be abused. We would see to it that people did not suffer long and painful illnesses.
We would protect all innocent people from crime and violence and war. But God
permits all this suffering to happen. How can we love and worship a God who may
seem less kind and compassionate than we think ourselves to be?

That is the dilemma. And the responses to it are as varied and diverse as people
themselves. Some choose to deny God even exists, since He does not behave the
way they think He should. Another reaction is to interpret suffering as a form of
punishment from God. This theory preserves the justice and goodness of God,
because, according to it, people always get what they deserve. However, it
collapses before the reality of our experience. We all know some very good people
to whom terrible things happen, as well as some terrible people for whom life seems
to offer only prosperity.

Surely, no Christian can ever say that suffering is always a deserved punishment
from God, when the Son of God Himself suffered. How can suffering be simply a
punishment for sin, when the sinless One suffered? His sufferings were not confined
to the cross, for He suffered poverty, hunger, fatigue and anxiety. He suffered
ridicule, rejection and betrayal all of it completely undeserved and unjust, all of it
cruel and unfair to someone whose life deserved only reward for its perfection and
goodness.

Because of this paradox, we can begin to see that it is in Jesus Christ, and only in
Him, that the answers to the meaning of suffering begin to emerge. We know that
His sufferings, however unjust, did have a purpose and meaning. We know that He
did not deserve them, but He endured them for us. His sufferings were redemptive
they were intended to make up for all the evil and sin in the world. Jesus suffered,
not because He deserved it, but for all those who do deserve it, and by His
sufferings, He brought us the possibility of forgiveness and redemption. So Jesus
suffered to save us; He suffered because He loves us; He suffered to serve us.

"Can you drink the cup which I am to drink?" our Lord asks the Apostles in this
weeks Gospel. Here, Jesus is asking whether His followers will be willing to share in
His sufferings. Then He goes on to speak of service. "Anyone among you who
aspires to greatness must serve the rest. The Son of Man has not come to be served
but to serve to give His life in ransom for many." Here, Jesus specifically links His
suffering (giving His life) to His service (in ransom for many). Christs ultimate and
most loving service to us is His redemptive suffering. And He invites us to "drink the
cup" with Him.

Here is where we begin to understand the true meaning of the mystery of suffering.
In union with Christ, suffering is transformed into loving service on behalf of others.
In union with Christ, no suffering need ever be senseless or useless, for every
tragedy can be united to Jesus on the Cross to become a means of service, where
we can join Jesus in offering our sufferings. for love. United to Jesus, our own
sorrows and pain can help free others from sorrows and pain, even in ways we may
not see or understand. There, we begin to grasp the authentic nature of love the
willingness to sacrifice ourselves for others.

Everything we suffer, from the little daily inconveniences of life to its most painful
tragedies, can be offered through Christ in service to others, for their good and for
their salvation. For Christians, suffering is not a sign of Gods punishment, but an
opportunity to be united to Christs redeeming love. Suffering need not defeat us; it
can sanctify us. Suffering is not a mindless evil to be escaped at any cost, but an
opportunity to serve.

Fr. Gross is dean of students and a faculty member at Mount Saint Mary seminary in
Emmitsburg, Md.
Copyright ?1997 Arlington Catholic Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.