How the Church Sees Suffering
The Catholic Church and it’s saints have looked on suffering in a positive light since the very beginning and realized it’s purpose in molding us into the people that God created us to be. I know this to be true, but to encounter someone who is able to maintain continuous hope and joy in the midst of suffering seems so other-wordly. And I had that encounter last night. When asking a friend of mine—who is undergoing yet another round of chemo therapy for stage four cancer—how she was doing, she rather bluntly said “it’s hard.” But her answer wasn’t what struck me, it was that she said it with a smile on her face.
It can be difficult enough to get through the difficult circumstances that we face in life, but to do so with joy says alot about who you are. The ability to suffer with a smile on your face is a powerful witness to the world who would say that suffering is negative and something to be avoided at all costs. Obviously, that’s the point, you can’t avoid it in most cases. It’s something you are challenged with and you must face—though not alone, but backed by God and His people.
“It is not by sidestepping or fleeing from suffering that we are healed, but rather by our capacity for accepting it, maturing through it and finding meaning through union with Christ, who suffered with infinite love.”
~ Pope Benedict XVI (Spe Salvi, 37)
The Saintly Approach to Suffering
Those who are able to live this way are often times those with the “St.” in front of their names, the saints who lived lives of extraordinary holiness and heroic virtue. They are the people we look up to, who inspire and challenge us to imitate Christ. They are the people who show us what is possible when we live for God and others and not for ourselves.
Then are those like St. Thérèse of Lisieux who went beyond the ability to suffer with a smile, but who in fact desired suffering. Not because she was a masochist, but because she knew the power of suffering. She saw it as a purification of the soul.
“My God, I choose everything, I will not be a Saint by halves, I am not afraid of suffering for Thee, I only fear one thing, and that is to do my own will.”
~ St. Thérèse of Lisieux (The Story of a Soul)
And after all, that’s exactly what suffering is, living joyously even whether or not our lives go as we hope and plan. It’s accepting God’s will even when it’s difficult. It’s choosing to love even those that don’t love us in return.
The Pope’s Challenge to You
We have such a great blessing in our Holy Father, the German Shepherd of our souls, Pope Benedict XVI. He released yesterday his message for the World Day for the Sick 2013 challenging all Christians to care for the suffering.
“We need to draw from the infinite love of God, through an intense relationship with him in prayer, the strength to live day by day with concrete concern, like that of the Good Samaritan, for those suffering in body and spirit who ask for our help, whether or not we know them and however poor they may be.”
~ Pope Benedict XVI (Message for World Day of the Sick, 2)
So let us pray for those who suffer and for those who are going through difficult struggles in their lives, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual. They need our prayers and they also need our love. Reach out to those who are suffering, if even only to be a shoulder to cry on or a listening ear. Be the Good Samaritan, better yet, be Jesus to all those who are in desperate need of Him, especially those who are not able to ask for help.
If you are able I highly recommend reading the Pope’s Message for World Day of the Sick 2013 in it’s entirety. It’s only a few paragraphs long, but nevertheless it challenges us to reflect and inspires us to act.