Is there any sense in suffering?

“I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. “You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. You shall labor six days, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. “You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

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	Is there any sense in suffering?

By Fr. Mieczysław Piotrowski S.Chr.,
Love One Another! 2015-32

“In suffering there is concealed a particular power that draws a person interiorly close to Christ, a special grace”(St John Paul II, Salvifici doloris, 26).

Is there any sense in suffering?

It is the Lord God Himself who gives us the answer to the question about the sense of suffering. Above all, He tells us that suffering and death are the consequences of original sin (Rom 3:1–19). The first people gave up the belief that the Lord God truly loved them and that only He was necessary for their happiness. They believed Satan’s lies that abandoning God’s commandments would give them full freedom and happiness. By rejecting God, human ity found itself in a tragic situation of suffering and death, along with enslavement to the power of evil.

“There is no way to Heaven except the way of the cross. I followed it first” (Diary of St Faustina, 1487)

But the Lord God did not leave humanity alone in this situation. Becoming a real person, He entered into the human condition of sin and death. In order to tear humanity free from slavery to Satan, sin and death, Jesus Christ took upon Him self all the sin and suffering from the life of every person throughout history. “He has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; […] But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities” (Is 53:4–5). He was able to accomplish this because, whilst being truly man, He remained truly God, and in God there is no past or future, but only a perpetual “now”. Jesus Christ experienced the consequences of the sins of all people in His horrific passion and death on the cross. In His resurrection, He freed humanity from the slavery of Satan, took away all sin, overcame death and made it possible that all human suffering united to His suffering on the cross could become a path to salvation, a source of extraordinary graces, taking part in His suffering for the salvation of the world. Suffering only makes sense in union with Christ. Remember that the Son of God, in becoming a real human, united Himself to each of us. Don’t forget that it is God Himself who suffers in every sick and suffering person, in each of the millions of human beings living in misery and abasement, brutally exploited, starving to death, and victims of torture and terrorism.

“If, in fact, we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him” (Rom 8:17)

We only discover this jolting reality of the love of God, who suffers along with humanity, on the path of faith. When a person looks with faith at the cross of Christ and joins his suffering with His suffer ing for the salvation of the world, he discovers the joyful truth that the suffering that he is experiencing becomes a grace, a great bless ing and a way of preparing for the final meeting with God. “If, in fact,we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him” (Rom 8:17). “Rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when His glory is revealed” (1 Pet 4:13). By uniting ourselves with Christ’s suffering and surren dering our suffering to Him, we discover that whatever it is that afflicts us is a great gift and grace, partaking in the suffering of Christ for the salvation of the world. If you rebel and refuse to surrender your suffering to Jesus, it becomes a force for destroying your entire life. Remember that when you suffer, it is the Lord God who is the first to bear the burden of your suf- fering, and it is only a small portion of His suffering for the salvation of the world. Do not rebel, but rather thank the Lord God for this difficult experience. Offer your suffering up to Jesus.

Let Jesus heal you

In order for Jesus to have access to your heart, to be able to cure and heal it, you have to fulfil the follow ing conditions:

Sever yourself from all sins, since they are the source of all of your misfortune.

Trust in God and believe in His infinite mercy. The Lord Jesus says: “The greater the misery, the great er the right to My mercy” (Divine Mercy in My Soul 1182). Recognise all your sins before Jesus in the sacrament of penance and receive Him in the Eucharist and in the sacra ment of the anointing of the sick.

Forgive everyone everything; don’t hold resentment for anyone.

If you have been involved in any form of occultism or received any bioenergy treatments, it is essential to break off any connections with the powers of evil that work through these media.

Pray the Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy daily, read the Holy Scripture, receive the Lord Jesus as often as possible in Holy Commu nion, and adore His Presence in the Most Holy Sacrament.

Source: https://loamagazine.org/archive/2015/2015-32/is-there-any-sense-in-suffering-2

The above article was published with permission from Miłujcie się! in September 2020.

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