What is the mystery of suffering?

THE MYSTERY OF SUFFERING

Is. 53:10-11; Heb. 4:14-16 & Mk. 10:35-45

A question that is asked over and over again is, “If God is good, why does He allow His children to suffer?”  Our Father in heaven is not sadistic.  He does not take joy in seeing His children suffer.  He never intended us to suffer.  Suffering was the result of the sin of our first parents.  But God knows how to bring immense good out of suffering.  Reparation for the sin of our first parents and for all the sins of the world has to be made.  No human person could do this.  It could not be done even if every human person got together and expressed their sorrow to God.  The sins of mankind were so great.  It could only be done by a sinless Person and that was Jesus, the Son of God.   He did this by suffering and dying on the Cross and asking our heavenly Father to forgive us all our sins.  Our Father in heaven accepted His suffering and so we were all saved.  The way we bring salvation to ourselves is by being sorry for our own sins.

God does not inflict suffering on us, but He permits it as a natural consequence of sin.  In the time of Our Lord some people thought that if their child suffered some infliction, say blindness or deformity, it was because their parents must have sinned.  This is not true.

If we say that suffering is a consequence of sin then why did Jesus who was sinless suffer and die.  It was because He took to Himself our human nature, and being fully human He accepted suffering like all human beings suffer.  He became man because He loved us and wanted to be like us in all things and so to save us, He experienced the collective effect of the sins of all human beings.  How generous Jesus was to us.  We need to keep this in mind.  God in His wisdom has ordained that suffering, which is the consequence of sin, should become the very means of healing and deliverance from sin.

Today’s Scripture readings help to control and strengthen us when we are faced with suffering.  They teach us that we are not alone in our suffering.  Christ has trodden the path of suffering before us.  He became one of us, so He knows what it is to suffer.  He knows every fibre of our being.  Therefore, as we heard in the Letter to the Hebrews, He is able to feel the pain with us:  the pain of our physical illnesses, the pain of our emotional wounds, the pain of our addictive compulsions, the pain of our weaknesses, and the pain of our struggle against the temptation to sin.  None of these, except sin itself, is new to Him.  He is therefore full of understanding and compassion towards us.  He gently holds our hands and says, “I am with you in your suffering.  I know what you are going through.”

Suffering is short-lived.  It may seem like an eternity, but we know that our suffering is temporary.  The prophet Isaiah foretells the end of Jesus’ sufferings when he says, “His soul’s anguish over, He shall see the light and be content.”  Painful though they are, our sufferings are as nothing compared to the glory that has been stored up for us and is waiting to be revealed.

Suffering is salvific.  The source of this salvation is the suffering of Jesus, the innocent Son of God. However, when we lovingly unite our own sufferings with those of Jesus, we too cooperate in the saving work of Jesus, that is, we contribute towards the salvation of ourselves and of the whole world.  This is what St. Paul meant when he said that we make up in our body what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.  A model for us in this regard is the “good thief” who was crucified with Jesus.  He acknowledged his sinfulness and humbly accepted his suffering.  “We deserve what we get; but this Man is innocent,” and then he added his yearning for union with Christ, “Remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”  We know how lovingly Jesus accepted this man’s offering of himself, and promised him a share of paradise.

Sufferings bring in a rich harvest of souls.  Again, Isaiah foretells the effects of Jesus’ suffering, “If he offers his life in atonement, he shall see his heirs, he shall have a long life.”  The productivity of Jesus’ suffering can be seen in the multitude of Christians who have belonged to the Church in every age.  This truth is also evident in the case of the martyrs who have followed Jesus to the point of shedding their blood.  “The blood of the martyrs is the seed ground of the Church.”  In every country including our own, the witness of the martyrs has led to a renewed flowering of our faith.  We, too, have the opportunity of becoming living martyrs when we embrace our sufferings.  When we do this, we become extremely pleasing to God.  We contribute towards the conversion of sinners, the return of the lapsed, the sanctification of the faithful and to the spread of the Gospel.  No wonder that the devil gets furious with those who offer their sufferings in union with Christ for the salvation of the world, for example, Padre Pio.

 Let us pray for the grace to see suffering in the right way; to embrace lovingly the crosses which come our way – whatever shape or form they may be.  Let us offer our sufferings courageously, in union with Christ, for the salvation of ourselves and of the whole world.

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