In
the world, and even in certain realms of Christianity, suffering is seen only
as an evil to be avoided. Many religions devote themselves to the transcendence
of suffering, or even in the elimination of suffering altogether. Faiths like
Buddhism and Hinduism seek to obtain the ultimate end of freedom from change
and suffering. The secular world often attempts to avoid suffering through
hedonistic endeavors: pleasure, pleasure, and pleasure. (Just turn on cable
television to find it). Some ecclesial communities of Christianity even look at
Jesus’ suffering and death as a purely substitutive event: “I don’t have to
suffer, because he did it in my place.” The Catholic faith, though, has a very
different perspective on suffering. The Catholic faith testifies that suffering
has been redeemed by the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and
is redemptive itself.
In
my previous time as a non-Catholic Christian, I recognized suffering as a time
to go to Jesus for relief, for comfort, for healing. I recognized suffering as
a consequence of the sin of the world. I recognized suffering as a means of
“being a good witness” to the love of God. But suffering was something not to
be desired. It certainly was something of which I longed to be free. When
suffering came along, there was a constant question of “Why.”
I
saw the same among my fellow non-Catholic Christians. While there were some who
bore suffering gracefully, many were of the opinion that Jesus could not come
back fast enough to relieve us of this world’s suffering. The answer given to
the question of “Why” was usually that already mentioned: We live in a fallen,
imperfect world; we will only be free from suffering in Heaven; we know that
God can use our suffering as a witness to others of our joy in Christ.” That
was mostly the extent to which the meaning and value of suffering went, within
the Christian communities I grew up. (Even those Christians dying or being
imprisoned for the faith were mostly, or only, witnesses to Christ’s love and
the truth of the Gospel, in this perspective).
The
fact is that these are mostly all near true statements from the Christian
community. But the real story, as told by the Catholic Church through her
saints and Scriptures, is that the answer to suffering given by the Cross of
Christ, does not stop there. Catholics come nowhere close in similarity to the
rest of the world in the understanding of suffering. Some other faiths, like
Christian Science, the New Age movement and other Eastern religions want to
deny the ultimate reality of suffering. Others want to find a way to avoid it
or annihilate it, by means of remedy, whether medical or spiritual. Those who
believe such things usually condemn the body as a burden, and worth very
little. The secular world is even trying to rid the earth of those who suffer:
the chronically ill, the dying, and babies to be born into poverty or
disability. This is all under the guise of a false compassion.
St.
Faustina wrote in her Diary that, in
a private revelation, Jesus told her the following:
My
daughter, I want to instruct you on how you are to rescue souls through
sacrifice and prayer. You will save more souls through prayer and suffering
than will a missionary through his teachings and sermons alone. I want to see
you as a sacrifice of living love, which only then carries weight before Me.
[…] Then will I find you a pleasing sacrifice, a holocaust full of sweetness
and fragrance. And great will be your power for whomever you intercede. (1767)
The
teaching office of the Church has declared this revelation of hers to not be in
contradiction to the Faith. It certainly reminds us of the Scriptures. “I
appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual
worship. (Rom. 12:1 NRSVCE)” And, “[…] pray for one another, so that you may be
healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
(James 5:16 NRSVCE)”
The
Catholic perspective of suffering is viewed through the suffering of the Son of
God, the God-Man, and his resurrection. Pope St. John Paul II wrote, in his encyclical
Salvifici Doloris, “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. (19)” “[Suffering]
is something good, before which the Church bows down in reverence with all the
depth of her faith in the Redemption. (Ibid., 24)”
The
Church, from the very moment of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross, while his
mother Mary and “the beloved disciple” stood at the foot of Calvary, has known
that Christ made available his entire redeeming work to his Church, which is
his body. By this, I mean that he did not just redeem our souls; he redeemed
our suffering, too. He made it so that we could participate in his suffering,
sharers in his sacrifice, and partakers of the divine mission to “give up one’s
life for one’s friends.”
To keep reading on the saving value of our personal suffering, read Part II:
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