Redemptive Suffering

Can my suffering actually benefit others?

During parish visits, St. John Paul II would always make it a priority to visit the homes of sick people. He wrote, “I have always been conscious of the fundamental importance of what the suffering contribute to the life of the Church… I used to entrust the needs of the Church to the prayers of the sick, and the results were always positive.”

Typically, the sick are considered as those who need help and healing. However, John Paul saw them as having this special capacity to further Jesus’ mission on earth! What did this saint pope see that we can’t?

To understand this, we need to understand how Jesus saved us.

In the beginning, man disobeyed God, separating himself from God. The great absence of God manifested in human sin, death and suffering. Christ’s mission was to bring all who were separated from God, back to God. To do so, he came down from heaven and enter into our entire fallen human condition. In the words of Pope Benedict XVI, “he has to penetrate it completely, down to its uttermost depths, in order to find the “lost sheep,” to bear it on his shoulders, and to bring it home.”

Jesus lived a life full of sufferings. At his birth, he was persecuted by King Herod and forced to flee to Egypt. During his ministry, he was ridiculed and insulted by the Pharisees and other Jews. His sufferings were fully on display, on the cross, when Jesus entered into maximal suffering and separation from God and asked: “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?” (Mark 15:34)

However, Jesus’ entrance into the deepest sufferings and separations from God simultaneously transforms and redeems them. Now, even God can be present in suffering. No matter what suffering we are going through, we know that we are not alone. Where there is God, there is no hell.

As Christians we are called to walk the path of Christ – from cradle to cross to resurrection. Therefore, in union with Christ, we are also called to enter into suffering and thus use it for the redemption of others just like how Christ did.

Ok… So Jesus comes into history to redeem us and our suffering… But, isn’t a better solution just to remove suffering entirely?

To answer, we have to realise that the roots of our sufferings are deeper than what we experience in this life alone! Our sufferings are actually a result of our separation from God (sin) and, ultimately, death – an eternal separation from God. These roots are more fundamental than any pain or evil we might ever encounter in this life – they are the sources of suffering. Jesus came to “strike evil right at its transcendental roots” as John Paul II puts it. Jesus overcomes sin through his obedience on the Cross and overcomes death by his resurrection! Thus, we have hope in this existence of eternal life with God in heaven and freedom from sin in this life! Seen from this perspective, although the fruits of suffering still exist, Jesus has cut off their roots. So in comparison, all suffering in this world is nothing compared to what Christ has won for us by overcoming sin and death!

But… What about the sufferings of this life!

Let’s conduct a thought experiment… Let’s say you had to carry a really heavy load of equipment, crawl through forest and mud and, despite all this, only have 3 hours of sleep daily. Not fun right? Probably a lot of suffering?

However, wouldn’t your perspective change if you knew you were doing this to save a friend being held hostage by terrorists? Maybe all the pain would be meaningful and worthy… Even heroic?

What the example above shows is that the context of something can change its meaning entirely. Jesus’ victory over sin and death does this too! The entire context of our suffering has changed! Jesus’ accomplishment “throws a new light upon this dimension and upon every suffering: the light of salvation.” Now, all suffering has a “salvific meaning” and is “enriched with a new content and new meaning.” It can be an opportunity to enter into the life of Christ!

How can we participate in Christ’s redemptive suffering?

“I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church” (Colossians 1:24). St. Paul writes about how, by suffering, he can participate in Christ’s redemptive suffering, thus unleashing waves of graces upon others. St. John Paul II says that “each man, in his sufferings, can also become a sharer in the redemptive suffering of Christ”. How can we do the same tangibly?

First, “offer it up!” In a passive way, we can participate in redemptive suffering by offering up the sufferings that we involuntarily encounter in daily life. By actively accepting and saying “yes!” to our sufferings and by carrying our crosses instead of dragging them, we actually help to be channels of graces for others. For example, when a grandparent is struck with a chronic illness, she can offer up her suffering for the conversion of a wayward grandchild. Second, in an active way, we can engage in acts of mortification like fasting. When we fast, we voluntarily enter into the suffering of Jesus and allow others to receive graces. We can fast for the healing of a loved one or the conversion of a family member.