030374 osv The meaning of suffering

FEW persons understand the meaning of suffering. We find it difficult to assist others who are in physical pain or spiritual anguish. Frequently the only help we can give a bereaved neighbor is to say "I'm sorry." There has to be a better way to console a friend.

What can a Christian say to a woman who has just lost her husband? What thoughts can assuage her grief and help her face the future? At the moment all she can think is: "Why did my husband have to die? What will our children do without a father? Why did God do this to me?"

Likewise, the mother with a wayward son, or the wife of a drunken husband, finds it hard to understand why a beloved one should cause such pain. "How can he do this to me?" they ask.

Man's Carelessness

Then there is the patient in the hospital bed with his leg in traction whose groans accompany each throb of pain. How is he to understand why a reckless driver, who escaped injury, should be the cause of his suffering? What can be said to such a victim of man's carelessness?

Surely there must be a way to help sufferers bear their trials. But what assistance is it to remind them that Christ said, "Take up your cross daily and follow Me," unless they understand what He was talking about?

It is best, therefore, to go back to the beginning and ask, "Why did Christ come upon earth?" The answer is simple; we know that the Word was made flesh that He might secure from His heavenly Father the forgiveness of fallen man. By studying the life of Christ we find that our Redeemer used suffering as the means to this end. His whole life was a degradation for Him to take on human nature.

God the Son

It has been said that Lucifer and his fellow angels revolted at the thought of adoring the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity in the form of lowly man. At His birth there was "no room for them in the inn" (Luke 2, 7). Although King Herod's advisors quoted the prophet as to where the Messiah would be born, they themselves did not bother to "go over to Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass" (Luke 2, 15).

Christ "came unto His own and His own received Him not," and Herod's plot to kill the Child, forced the flight into Egypt "that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled" (Matt. 2,15).

In Nazareth Jesus was subject to Mary and Joseph (Luke 2, 51) and had to work for a living. Often during His public life Christ "had nowhere to lay His head" (Matt. 17,23).

Even as He went about doing good, our Lord was misunderstood and reviled, Many of those He healed did not bother to thank Him, and some leaders of the synagogue attempted to ensnare Him, while the Romans suspected Him Pf treason.

Christ's trusted apostles strove to see who would be the first among them. One of the 12 even betrayed his Master with a kiss. Moreover, Peter denied that he knew Jesus. The others, except John, deserted their Lord when the "hour of darkness" was at hand.

A Prelude

Such heartbreaking suffering was but the prelude. The gentle Savior was spat upon, buffeted, whipped, dragged, jeered at and crucified. The agony of His Passion was so terrible that the psalmist foretold 'He would be treated like a worm and not as a man (Ps. 21, 7). Why did the Son of God suffer to such an unspeakable degree when, as some believe, a drop of His precious blood could atone for the sins of the world? Why else, unless to teach us how to pray to God for the things we need. Christ used consecrated suffering as a prayer, and since He is God, His method must be the best. Seen in this light suffering and sorrow in our lives take on a new meaning. Since we cannot get through life without suffering, it behooves us to use it instead of rebelling against it.

Offering of Pain

Is it right then for a Christian to tell a desolate widow that he is sorry because her husband dies? Is he truly sorry that her spouse has seen God? Would the husband, if he had a choice, return to this world? Might it not be better to console her with the blessed truths of our Christian faith? Her great hope now can be that her husband is happy with God. The pain of separation which is breaking her heart should be offered to God in union with the Christ of Calvary for the soul of her beloved and for her children.

The woman whose drunken husband beats her can accept each insulting blow by offering the agony as a prayer for his conversion. Then the more she suffers from him, the more she will be able to help him.

Likewise, the mother of a wayward boy can offer for his conversion the anguish and difficulties which his escapades have brought upon her. Equally so, the patient in the bed of pain, if too ill to pray an Our Father, may dedicate each throb of his aching limb as a prayer of suffering in union with Christ that he might soon be restored to health.

By following our Lord's admonition to "love your enemies, do good to those who hate you" (Matt. 5, 44), it is possible to make friends of them. This is essential to Christ's doctrine to pray as He did, through consecrated suffering. Once this idea has been accepted, peace enters the soul.

Share Sacrifice

One now begins to understand why Christ did not shield His beloved mother from witnessing His agony at Calvary. He wanted her to share in the precious sacrifice which He was offering for mankind. Mary understood the value of ,suffering and, for this reason she

could not be the swooning type of spectator portrayed by some artists. She watched her dying Son not with the stoic fortitude of a pagan but with the mind of a Christian.

To suffer merely for the purpose of saying "I can take it" is futile and vain. To bear pain in union with Christ is wise and effective. The Virgin Mother's share in Christ's Passion is one more indication of her love for Him and her love for sinners. Mary, above all, should know the value of a human soul judging from the price her Son paid. He it was who made pain precious. We should understand that God takes no delight in seeing anyone suffer. This was not the intention when He created man in His image and likeness.

In view of this it is possible to understand the prayer of St. Tere

sa of Avila who cried out to God, "Either suffering or death." That great saint was a most practical woman; she understood the value of suffering as a prayer and accomplished great things by it. So precious was pain to her that she actually went out of her way to seek it. The average Christian is not asked to reach such heights, but at least he can take the pain which comes through necessity and offer it as a petition for the things he needs.

Rejoice or Suffer

In writing to his comrades at Colossae, St. Paul tells them that he rejoices in his suffering for them (Col. 1, 24). The point he makes is that Christians form one body with Christ their Head and for this reason we should rejoice with those who rejoice and suffer with those who suffer.

Nothing is too small or of too little value to be used as a prayer. Any inconvenience or annoyance - the telephone ringing as we step into a bath, the demands on one's time by a gossipy neighbor or a salesman at the door, a catty remark by a friend, disappointments of any kind - all these trials can be dedicated to God. Thus we shall pray in the same way Christ prayed 'and God is certain to answer our prayer in the manner which He knows is best for us. 0

Father John M. Martin, M.M., S.T.B., Ph.D., spent six years in Rome and now resides at Maryknoll, Now York. Father Martin is currently making a remarkable recovery from a stroke.