CHRISTIAN SUFFERING AND THE SORROWFUL MYSTERIES
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin; no guile was found on his lips. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he trusted to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.( 1 Peter 2:21-25)
Suffering is anything which hurts or irritates. In the design of God, it is also something to make us think. It is a tool God uses to get our attention and to accomplish His purposes in our lives in a way that would never occur without the trial or irritation. Suffering is hard. It is never easy. Regardless of what we know and how hard we apply the principles, it is going to hurt (1Peter 1:6). Suffering is somewhat mysterious. We may know some of the theological reasons for suffering from Scripture, yet when it hits, there is still a certain mystery. Why now? What is God doing? In this, it is designed to build our trust in the Almighty.
Suffering is not without meaning in spite of its mystery. It has as its chief purpose the formation of Christ-like character (Romans 8:28-29). There is still a mystery here. Why suffering as a means to holiness and final redemption? The key to answering this mystery lies in the reality of sin, the ancient evil wherein Man rejects God, refuses to serve and obey, and exalts himself against his Creator and Father. Without sin, there would be no need for suffering, for it is suffering, John Paul states, that allows us “to become particularly susceptible, particularly open to the working of the salvific powers of God, offered to humanity in Christ”. Suffering allows us to see ourselves as we really are, by revealing to us in our “weakness and emptying of self”, that, at the end of the day, and at the end of our lives, we are totally and utterly dependent upon God.
“Suffering is against nature, but through the supernatural grace of Our Lord, we can accept what our nature rejects. Do not feel that suffering is an obstacle on the road to heaven; it can be the road itself. To help another person physically, you must be present. To help another person spiritually, you do it through Our Lord and His Blessed Mother. Be a Missionary…Don’t let pain go to waste! Save a soul – and save your own!”
Suffering creates an opportunity for others to show love. The natural human response is called being a “Good Samaritan”, but this act of love is a vocation and an apostolate when it is done with an evangelical motive driving it on. Thus, added to human solidarity are the Christian virtues (especially love of neighbor) which together overcome indifference to suffering. These acts of love are carried out by individuals, and not simply institutions, which can never replace the pure human element of compassion. Just as Christ could suffer for others, while needing none himself, so too we can suffer for others, even if we need it not.
WHAT ARE YOU SUFFERING FOR?
To Be Continued….
Comforter of the Afflicted, Pray for us!!!
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