Joy in suffering

THERE can be joy in suffering only if we identify

ourselves with Christ. With Christ, suffering becomes an act of

selfless love that can take on anything. Only in him can we find joy

and meaning in suffering. With him, suffering loses its purely

negative and painful character, and assumes the happy salvific

character.

  

            We need to process this truth of our faith thoroughly,

always asking for God’s grace and training all our powers and

faculties to adapt to this reality. That’s why Christ told us clearly

that if we want to follow him, we simply have to deny ourselves, carry

the cross and follow him. There’s no other formula, given our wounded

human condition.

  

            This self-denial and carrying of Christ’s cross will

enable us to see that suffering is obviously the consequence of all

our sins—ours and those of others. Embracing suffering the way Christ

embraced his cross unites our suffering with that of Christ.

  

            Our motive for it is like that of Christ. It’s the desire

to conquer that suffering and ultimately our death through his death

and resurrection. It’s obeying God’s will just like Christ obeyed his

Father’s will. “Not my will but yours be done.”

  

            Our reaction to any form of suffering in this life should

therefore be theological and ascetical. It should be guided and

inspired by faith. It should not just be physical or a natural affair.

It should reflect the spiritual and supernatural realities to which we

are all subject.

  

            Everyday let us find ways of deepening our understanding

and appreciation of this truth of our faith, and also of acquiring the

capacity to live it as fully as possible, until we can truly say that

we are finding joy in our suffering.

  

            Let us often meditate on the passion, death and

resurrection of Christ since it is from there that we can get the

proper inspiration on this matter.

  

            At least we can say that we complain less when some

suffering comes our way, or we don’t lose our peace, we are actually

game with any suffering, our reaction to it goes beyond the level of

the senses and feelings, etc. We get more and more convinced that

going through some suffering is doing a lot of good to us and to

everybody else.

  

            To train ourselves for this, we might have to actively

pursue a plan of what is called as active mortification. We make a

list of acts of self-denial and even of corporal mortification like

fasting, abstinence and the recourse to ascetical instruments like the

cilice and the discipline.

  

            We should be familiar with these instruments that were

very useful in ages past. They can be very useful and relevant now

given the temper of the times when we live in an environment where

self-indulgence is a mainstream practice. We need to recover the use

of these instruments since they are effective in curbing our tendency

to indulge ourselves.

  

            We have to overcome the apologetic attitude whenever this

topic is brought up. It’s not something to be feared or to be ashamed

about. It is actually part of the Good News that will bring us a lot

of joy.

  

            This truth of our faith should be discussed more often in

churches, families, schools and even offices and other workplaces.

From there, let’s hope that this truth gets to be considered seriously

in the bigger worlds of business, politics and international

relations.