THIS is how we should feel when some suffering comes our way.
This
is especially so when we think that we do not seem to deserve
suffering because we have been trying our best to be good and holy, or
because we are not aware of committing any big mistake that brings
with it its own comeuppance, etc. Just the same, we also know that we
somehow deserve to suffer because of some personal fault, no matter
how light.
That can only mean that God has given us the favor to make us
share more intimately in the redeeming suffering and death of Christ
for the good of all or for the sake of some people or some particular
intentions. Our reaction to suffering should be that of patience,
peace and confidence, and thanksgiving and praise.
This was how the saints and other holy men and women felt when
some form of suffering came their way, including martyrdom. They
embraced it lovingly because they knew that the cross, in whatever
form it came, was the surest way to be with Christ in his supreme act
of loving and saving us.
Obviously, that kind of attitude can only be assumed if a person
clearly has the grace of God. Only God's grace can make a person see
the cross that way. Without it, the cross can only mean pain, problem,
suffering that is repulsive to our nature.
It is also for this reason then that whenever a suffering comes
our way, we have to ask for grace to be able to regard that suffering
the way Christ and the saints considered their suffering. That grace
will always be given by God who is not sparing at all in showering us
with it.
We need to be clear about this truth of our faith so that we can
take proper advantage of the suffering that we unavoidably will have
in our earthly life. Our reaction to suffering should be eminently
theological, spiritual and supernatural. It should never be seen only
from a purely human point of view, based on feelings and our human
estimations alone.
We have to learn how to suffer. It’s an art and skill that is
available if we only care to notice. It’s all there as clear as
noonday, its cause and meaning precisely defined, its antidote and
vaccine abundantly provided. Our Christian faith sheds tremendous
light on this mystery of our life. Christ is showing us the way.
Our faith, the ultimate source of truth about ourselves, tells us
that suffering is due to sin, to the misuse of our freedom, to our
disobedience to the will of God who created us to be his image and
likeness, to be children of his, sharing in his very own life.
Yet, in spite of that, God our Father, who is all goodness and the
very fount of love, did not and does not cease to care for us. And
while allowing us to suffer the consequences of our sin and
disobedience, he also showed and continues to show us up to now how to
tackle suffering in our earthly life.
We should try our best, with God’s grace which he actually gives
us in abundance, to go beyond the level of the sensible and the
intelligible, and enter into the all-beautiful world of our faith
where the humanly ugly things are converted into divinely beautiful
realities.
Let’s not be afraid of suffering then. We just have to learn to
suffer the way Christ himself suffered. Not only has he given us the
way to do it, but also the very power to suffer with him.
With faith, we can even resemble Christ’s eagerness to meet his
death because we all know that such death can only mean one thing—our
redemption, our purification, and our way toward our ultimate
glorification as children of God.
If we manage to understand and appreciate suffering in this way,
then we can always see beauty in suffering. Even our physical
deformities and deficiencies, even our moral errors and blunders can
convey a distinctive brand of beauty if borne with faith in Christ.
Let's remember that the beatitudes are formulated along the ways
of suffering. We are blessed if we are poor in spirit, if we are in
mourning, if we are meek and humble, pure of heart, if we are
merciful, and hunger and thirst for righteousness, if we are
peacemakers, if we are persecuted and insulted, etc. (cfr Mt 5)
We have to learn to regard all suffering as privilege given to us by God.
is especially so when we think that we do not seem to deserve
suffering because we have been trying our best to be good and holy, or
because we are not aware of committing any big mistake that brings
with it its own comeuppance, etc. Just the same, we also know that we
somehow deserve to suffer because of some personal fault, no matter
how light.
That can only mean that God has given us the favor to make us
share more intimately in the redeeming suffering and death of Christ
for the good of all or for the sake of some people or some particular
intentions. Our reaction to suffering should be that of patience,
peace and confidence, and thanksgiving and praise.
This was how the saints and other holy men and women felt when
some form of suffering came their way, including martyrdom. They
embraced it lovingly because they knew that the cross, in whatever
form it came, was the surest way to be with Christ in his supreme act
of loving and saving us.
Obviously, that kind of attitude can only be assumed if a person
clearly has the grace of God. Only God's grace can make a person see
the cross that way. Without it, the cross can only mean pain, problem,
suffering that is repulsive to our nature.
It is also for this reason then that whenever a suffering comes
our way, we have to ask for grace to be able to regard that suffering
the way Christ and the saints considered their suffering. That grace
will always be given by God who is not sparing at all in showering us
with it.
We need to be clear about this truth of our faith so that we can
take proper advantage of the suffering that we unavoidably will have
in our earthly life. Our reaction to suffering should be eminently
theological, spiritual and supernatural. It should never be seen only
from a purely human point of view, based on feelings and our human
estimations alone.
We have to learn how to suffer. It’s an art and skill that is
available if we only care to notice. It’s all there as clear as
noonday, its cause and meaning precisely defined, its antidote and
vaccine abundantly provided. Our Christian faith sheds tremendous
light on this mystery of our life. Christ is showing us the way.
Our faith, the ultimate source of truth about ourselves, tells us
that suffering is due to sin, to the misuse of our freedom, to our
disobedience to the will of God who created us to be his image and
likeness, to be children of his, sharing in his very own life.
Yet, in spite of that, God our Father, who is all goodness and the
very fount of love, did not and does not cease to care for us. And
while allowing us to suffer the consequences of our sin and
disobedience, he also showed and continues to show us up to now how to
tackle suffering in our earthly life.
We should try our best, with God’s grace which he actually gives
us in abundance, to go beyond the level of the sensible and the
intelligible, and enter into the all-beautiful world of our faith
where the humanly ugly things are converted into divinely beautiful
realities.
Let’s not be afraid of suffering then. We just have to learn to
suffer the way Christ himself suffered. Not only has he given us the
way to do it, but also the very power to suffer with him.
With faith, we can even resemble Christ’s eagerness to meet his
death because we all know that such death can only mean one thing—our
redemption, our purification, and our way toward our ultimate
glorification as children of God.
If we manage to understand and appreciate suffering in this way,
then we can always see beauty in suffering. Even our physical
deformities and deficiencies, even our moral errors and blunders can
convey a distinctive brand of beauty if borne with faith in Christ.
Let's remember that the beatitudes are formulated along the ways
of suffering. We are blessed if we are poor in spirit, if we are in
mourning, if we are meek and humble, pure of heart, if we are
merciful, and hunger and thirst for righteousness, if we are
peacemakers, if we are persecuted and insulted, etc. (cfr Mt 5)
We have to learn to regard all suffering as privilege given to us by God.
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