Suffering

Have you ever been affected by suffering? I think we all are affected at some time in our lives by either our own suffering or other peoples suffering. The meaning of suffering or how a good and loving God can allow apparently terrible suffering can be something that challenges a persons faith. Sometimes even to the degree of being angry at God or even critically reviewing our system of belief. The late great John Paul II wrote an open letter to all the faithful regarding suffering. The name of the letter is SALVIFICI DOLORIS: On The Christian Meaning Of Human Suffering. It will take a good half hour to read the whole thing, but it is very enlightening and fortifying to ones faith. One of the main scripture passages from this teaching is COLL 1: 24. Here we are given a glimpse of the value suffering can have when approched in the proper way.

[22] he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him, [23] provided that you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. [24]
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, [25] of which I became a minister according to the divine office which was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, [26] the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now made manifest to his saints. [27] To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. [28] Him we proclaim, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man mature in Christ. [29] For this I toil, striving with all the energy which he mightily inspires within me.

My understanding is that we can offer our suffering as a sacrafice (from the Latin: sacra- meaning holy and facio- to make) to cooperate with God in making us holy. In St. Augustine's City of God he says “A true sacrifice is any work that unites us to God in holy fellowship.” (10.6). This is where the old Catholic mothers saying "offer it up" has it's theological basis. Our holy suffering offered as a sacrafice, helps to build and strengthen the Body of Christ, which is His Church.

Pyro