In the Catholic and Orthodox Churches we have the Sacrament of Reconciliation. After the priest, whom Christ speaks through and works through, hears the person confess his or her sins, he gives the penitent (person who is sorry for their sins) their penance. The penance could be a certain prayer or even a given action such as forgiving someone who has hurt us or making more time for prayer. The “purpose of the penance is to overcome evil, which under different forms lies dormant”11 in one’s soul. It is also given to strengthen goodness both in the penitent and in his or her relationships with others, especially with God.12
To really explore the why of suffering, to dive into the richness of suffering one must look to the revelation of divine love. This is the “ultimate source of the meaning of everything that exists.”13
When we look to the Cross of Christ we see the revelation of divine love. The wider world looks at the Cross and can’t fathom why God would let anyone suffer such a disgraceful, lonely and horrific death, let alone His own Son.
But when one meditates on the meaning of the cross through Sacred Scripture they can see a beauty and power which includes the answer to their own personal suffering. They can see an antidote as it were to their own pain, anger, bitterness and lack of forgiveness in their life.
Through the Cross of Christ God answers why we have to suffer. Christ’s death, resurrection and glorification resulted in the victory over evil, victory over Satan. Humanity sinned through Adam and Eve, sinned against an eternal Being and thus brought evil and death into the world. Because they sinned against an eternal Being, their sin was eternal and could only be atoned for by someone who could represent humanity as well as the divine Being. So God sent His only Son to become one of us. The second person of the Trinity took on human nature and retained His divine nature. Therefore He was fully God and fully man. His greatest sacrifice was giving His own life for all of humanity; He could represent humanity as well as God and thus atone for the eternal sin.
When we think negatively about suffering we are blocked from one beautiful truth; God understands. He can identify with us because He allowed and experienced His one and only Son suffering an excruciating agony more than most of us could endure. Jesus understands because He experienced the agony of torture as His skin was ripped from His flesh, was taunted by His persecutors and felt abandoned by God as our sins – past and future sins of all humanity separated Him from the Father.
But why did Jesus embrace this? He not only knew that He was going to suffer but He embraced such horrific and unbearable torture so that you and I could be reconciled to God the Father and could have a loving relationship with Him. Without His suffering the doorway to eternal life would not have opened to us. In the next chapter I will dwell more on God’s plan to redeem humankind. But for now, let’s contemplate that Jesus embraced the way of suffering; yes He was afraid (He sweated great drops of blood); maybe His fear included being separated from God the Father during this time of suffering. Because sin separates us from God He felt abandoned on the Cross and yet still had faith and trust that the Father would resurrect Him. This is inherent in His words, ‘It is finished’; He knew the Father’s plan was accomplished.
God created our time and so is not bound by it. The power of the Cross transcends time; therefore the death and resurrection of Christ is as powerful today as when it historically occurred. Jesus knows what it is like to suffer – but our suffering pales in comparison. Also our suffering is only temporal, as Jesus’s sufferings on the Cross were temporal. It is so liberating to know that our current suffering is only limited to earth, and that when we reach heaven, we will not suffer anymore, and most of all our time in heaven is just the beginning of a wonderful place that we enter for eternity. Pope John Paul II asks, ‘Where might the human being seek the answer to dramatic questions such as pain, the suffering of the innocent and death, if not in the light streaming from the mystery of Christ’s Passion, death and Resurrection?’14
Suffering can also lead us closer to God. It is through other people’s love, selflessness, compassion, solidarity and concern that God can be revealed to those who are suffering. Jesus showed us the way – He embraced suffering.
Secular society tends to believe that embracing suffering is ridiculous. Most people hate to suffer. But it is very much part of human life. We can either draw closer to God, self and others through our suffering, or we can become bitter towards the same. It is only through sharing Christ’s suffering that we can share God’s glory. This does not exclude us from seeking help from health professionals for physical suffering; and we should have a positive attitude rather than grumbling and feeling sorry for ourselves. We can share our suffering with Christ, by offering it up for those who are less fortunate than ourselves, for those who are suffering far worse than us and have lost all hope, and for the conversion of the world to Christ.
In 2009 Haiti experienced great suffering. A great opportunity opened for the world to reach out to those in desperate need. The world responded with compassion, offering monetary assistance, supplies and personnel. While the secular media tried to portray the people as feeling forsaken by God, to their credit they also showed parishioners worshipping God outside their destroyed Cathedral. They also reported that the victims gave praise and thanks to God immediately upon their rescue. The faith of the poor put to shame the faith of many in richer countries.
In 2011 there were natural disasters in both New Zealand and Japan with great support given by countries such as providing rescue teams and also many countries fundraised for those suffering from the effects such as losing their loved ones.
God gave His Son to humanity to free us from evil. This redemption from evil had two essential conditions which opened the door of eternal life: victory over sin; and victory over death. Thus the love manifested was salvific. “Salvation means liberation from evil.”15
“In a certain sense he annihilates this evil in the spiritual space of the relationship between God and humanity, and fills this space with good.”16
The Cross of Christ opened the gates of salvation because Christ struck at the very roots of human evil, eternal sin. Christ took all human sin upon Himself, becoming sin: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) This lead to “separation, the rejection by the Father, the estrangement from God.”17
One can ponder on the fact that Christ became sin. If you or me were loaded with the sins of humanity we could not cope. We would have gone mad. But as Jesus was separated from the Father’s love He would have felt the shame of sin and ‘tasted’ the repulsion of all that evil. Therefore on the Cross He cried out “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” However, even though Jesus felt abandoned by God the Father, His great faith recognised the accomplishment of His mission. Jesus did not give up hope. In fact Jesus is the embodiment of faith, hope and love.
The eight beatitudes in the Mathew’s Gospel call out to those who are suffering:
Blessed are those who mourn. ♦
♦ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for uprightness. ♦ Blessed are those who are persecuted in the cause of
uprightness. The call to suffering includes the promise of salvation. To the poor in spirit and those persecuted for what is right He promised the kingdom of heaven. To those who are abused, persecuted and spoken against falsley on His account he called blessed. In fact He said when this happens to us we should rejoice and be glad, for a great reward awaits us in heaven (see Matthew 5:11).
The Cross of Christ reveals the person who is the epitome of the eight beatitudes. On the Cross Jesus was poor in spirit, gentle, a mourner for sinners, he hungered and thirsted for uprightness, was merciful, pure in heart, the ultimate peacemaker and was both abused and persecuted.
The beatitudes makes us sharers of the divine nature of the Holy Trinity whereby we can enter into “the glory of Christ and into the joy of the Trinitarian Life”.18
Christ “drew increasingly closer to the world of h
uman suffering”19 through His messianic activity. He healed the sick, the deaf, blind and lame; consoled those suffering; and freed people from the devil.
Salvific Suffering But above all Christ in taking all sin upon Himself took all human suffering as well. That is why one can unite their sufferings with the power of the Cross. “But if at the same time in this weakness there is accomplished his lifting up, confirmed by the power of the Resurrection then this means that the weakness of all human sufferings are capable of being infused with the same power of God manifested in Christ’s cross.”20
One must surrender their pain, their torment and fears in order to unite their sufferings with the Cross. Christ opens the door for our suffering to be salvific. St Paul says: “In my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church (Colossians 1:24).”
Through the Cross Christ opened His suffering to us, and “in a certain sense, a sharer in all human sufferings.”21
“Christ has also raised human suffering to the level of Redemption. Thus each man, in his suffering, can also become a sharer in the redemptive suffering of Christ.”22
The Redemption won by Christ’s death, resurrection and glorification was complete. This Redemption always remains open to all. Therefore we can share in the Redemption and unite our sufferings with His. Thus this Redemption lives on: “Every human suffering by reason of the loving union with Christ, completes the suffering of Christ.”23
The Church “ceaselessly draws on the infinite resources of the Redemption.”24 Because “the redemptive suffering of Christ can be constantly completed by the suffering of man” suffering has a special value for the Church. It is something “good, before which the Church bows down in reverence with all the depth of her faith in the Redemption.”25
God calls us to embrace suffering which at times He allows us to experience. St Paul says:
The Spirit himself joins with our spirit to bear witness that we are children of God. And if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, provided that we share his suffering, so as to share his glory (Romans 8:16-17).
Therefore in order to share in Christ’s glory we must share in His suffering. In doing so we do this for the sake of Christ’s Church, thus for Christ.
St Paul discovered this incredible mystery. Therefore he was able to say: “But far be it from me to glory except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Galations 6:14).” He also calls us to rejoice as we share Christ’s sufferings so we may rejoice when His glory is revealed ( 1 Peter 4:13).
There have been many saints who have experienced and conquered intense suffering. Saint Maximilian Kolbe lived a life of constant sacrifice. When he was imprisoned in Auschwitz he would even give away portions of his rations to those weaker than his emancipated self. Then after offering his life for another condemned prisoner he was sentenced to death. As he lay in his prison dying, amidst the pain of hunger he inspired all the other prisoners in his cell and the cells around him to pray and sing hymns to Jesus and Our Lady.
Suffering and the Virtues The three theological virtues are faith, hope and love. Faith is the virtue by which “we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief, because he is truth itself.”26 Hope is where “we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in God’s promises and relying... on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit”.27 Love, also known as charity is the virtue in which “we love God above all things for His own sake, and our neighbour as ourselves for the love of God”.28
These theological virtues are the foundation of the human virtues, the cardinal virtues by which the other virtues hang. They are: prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance (courage). St Paul relates these to suffering: “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts (Romans 5:3-5).”
Through perseverance one unleashes hope.29 Suffering contains a unique call to the virtue one must exercise on one’s own, perseverance.
Therefore perseverance of fortitude and hope means one will not be conquered by suffering, it won’t deprive oneself of their human dignity. This dignity is linked to God’s love, the meaning of life. When one surrenders to the God of love they do not have to fight themselves any longer. They do not have to be angry, bitter or jealous but can surrender everything to God. They can still fight to live and not give up on life. But they fight in accordance with God’s will. This is where one receives true peace amidst their suffering.
In a unique way Christ is united with those who suffer.30 Therefore Christ’s grace is available to those who ask for it, to those who surrender to His loving power. That grace could be healing of one’s body, but it is especially available for the healing of one’s soul.
Suffering can lead to a new self-discovery; one can become a completely new person and discover a new dimension of one’s entire life and vocation.31
When we choose to turn away from God, and give into hidden desires, or what are known as the seven deadly sins – pride, lust, avarice, gluttony, sloth, envy and anger – then we perpetrate evil. In turning away from our Creator we are freely choosing evil. Because we owe our very existence to God, why do we sometimes act like He doesn’t exist?
It is when we turn away from God that we lose fullness of life and joy; our soul is deprived of the most important two things that it thrives on. In its place evil resides as the due good is absent, so something not of God, evil taints the soul.
Natural Evil Natural evil is the term given to physical or material evil that occurs in the world, such as earthquakes, droughts, devastating floods and other natural disasters (also known as ontic evil). There are certain natural evils that relate to creatures with souls. This includes pain, ageing, and fatigue.
Some of us may ask: Why would God let natural evil happen? But Sacred Scripture gives us a wonderful answer relating to all creation being in disarray or imperfection as the result of mankind’s disobedience and not trusting, not loving fully the Creator:
In my estimation, all that we suffer in the present time is nothing in comparison with the glory which is destined to be disclosed for us, for the whole creation is waiting with eagerness for the children of God to be revealed. It was not for its own purposes that creation had frustration imposed on it, but for the purposes of him who imposed it – with the intention that the whole creation itself might be freed from its slavery to corruption and brought into the same glorious freedom as the children of God. We are well aware that the whole creation, until this time, has been groaning in labour pains. And not only that: we too, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we are groaning inside ourselves, waiting with eagerness for our bodies to be set free (Romans: 8:18-24).
Solution to Evil W hen we turn back to God, it is by the power of love and so God’s grace that we can conquer evil; the power of love flows from God as He is the source of love. The key is to ask God to forgive you, and then you will need to make a conscious decision to commit or recommit your life to the very cause of your existence. It is also very important to make some concrete steps in order to keep focus on God who is crucial to your life. Therefore it is critical to be part of God’s Church, and attend regularly as it is the family of God, Christ’s body. As a Christian it is also vital to one’s relationship with God to pray, to read spiritual books, study Church teachings, and read Sacred Scripture daily.
Summary At the beginning of this chapter we pondered the meaning of evil and why even good people have to suffer. We explored the meaning of evil as being the lack of a due good, or an excess or defect of what is good. The more we explored the nature of evil the more we discovered it as being interpersonal - all sin affecting our relationship with God, self and others.<
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Because evil is present in our world then we have suffering as well. Suffering in the Old Testament was an invitation of God’s mercy. Yahweh called back his people to Himself and was always faithful to His covenant though His people continued to break it.
In the New Testament the fullest answer to the meaning of suffering is given. It is an answer which reveals intensely personal love: God the Father sent His own Son to become one of us (while retaining His divinity) to love those who suffering, curing the sick and comforting mourners by raising the dead, and even taking upon all sin of Humanity and thus suffering as He became sin and was separated from the Father until His victory over death.
God’s revelation of divine love is also an answer to our own personal suffering. We are called to unite our sufferings with Christ’s suffering for the good of Christ’s body, the Church. Our suffering can be salvific for ourselves and also for others.
Through persevering in our time of suffering hope is unleashed in our lives, especially as we focus on Christ and His example of suffering. We are thus called not only to persevere but to surrender totally to Christ. We are called to surrender all of ours hurts, and any evil residing in our souls, such as bitterness or unforgiveness. It is not mean surrendering these to Jesus. He calls us to unload our burdens on Him. He has huge shoulders, so to speak, on which to carry our burdens.
When we surrender everything to Christ we are free to receive. But what does Jesus want to give us? He wants to give us the grace to endure and even conquer our personal suffering. This grace is especially available through the sacraments (e.g. Sacrament of Reconciliation).
Through such a surrender we can discover ourselves in a new light, and truly experience the fullness of life and joy even in the midst of suffering as the great saints such as St Maximilian Kolbe and St Padre Pio testify.
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