SUFFERING HAS HIDDEN BLESSINGS

September 13, 2008

Why do we suffer?  Suffering seems an inescapable fact of life. No matter how carefully we take protective measures, we cannot altogether avoid pain.

Suffering overcomes everyone in one way or another, sooner or later. It visits the young and the old, the rich and the poor, the wise and the foolish, the swift and the slow, the clever and the careless, the sinner and the saint. Even if we avoid physical suffering, we suffer mentally over problems we can't solve.

None of the generations before us have escaped suffering, nor will those that come after us. The challenge of every person of every age, then, is how to cope with it.

One crucial issue is whether or not we can find a reason to suffer. If we cannot find positive value in it, if it is in no way redemptive, then we are indeed pitiable creatures. And all the sweetness of life and all the good things with which we might be blessed do not balance the scales.

The reality of suffering brings us to question the value of our existence. Shakespeare, weighing the question, was led to conclude life was absurd. At least that is what he professed through the lips of Hamlet, who said, "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage, then to be heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Some suffering, we know, is a direct result of the abuse of our freedom. Someone, for example, who is found to have lung cancer after years of heavy smoking has only himself to blame. To ask, "How could God do this to me?" is to lay the blame in the wrong place. This is suffering that is the result of moral choice.

But there are other kinds of suffering over which we have no control, and for which we are given little or no advance warning. Victims of certain diseases or of natural disasters fall into this category. And then there are those who suffer unjustly because of someone else's abuse of freedom, like crime victims or those who have been disabled in an auto accident they did not cause.

It is these kinds of cases, which involve the suffering of innocents that bring us most deeply and directly into the mysteriousness of suffering. This is a knot we ourselves cannot untie. Left to ourselves, we have no ultimate explanation or solution to the riddle of human suffering.

We must ultimately open ourselves to God, in hopes that the light of faith will illumine the meaning of suffering, and help us on our way.

When we turn to God, we discover he has already responded to our suffering. The original cause of all human woe is the original rebellion of man and woman against God's plan for our happiness. We suffer because of the original sin of Adam and Eve, who ruined not only their relationship of trust and love with their Creator, but ruined it for us as well.
God wishes us no harm, though. He has taken pity on us and sent his only son to redeem us. He wishes life for us, not death, and certainly not unnecessary suffering either.

But if we are redeemed by Christ, as the Church proclaims, why do we still suffer? I'll return to this question next week, but for now, consider several of the blessings that result from suffering.

First, suffering, by plunging us into one of life's greatest mysteries, teaches us wisdom and prudence. Invariably, it is those who suffer who know best how to live life, who know what really matters and what doesn't. Second, suffering sensitizes us to the suffering of others, and so helps us learn compassion and mercy. Third, as a corollary of #2, if there were no suffering, we would be likely to lead utterly superficial and selfish lives. Suffering is a great motivator. Indeed, most of science, medicine, and political and economic reforms have been advanced to reduce human misery and deprivation in some way. Finally, while we should desire an end to unnecessary suffering, we should recognize that some suffering is necessary and desirable. Sports teams, for example, want to suffer to win the championship, otherwise there's little satisfaction in it. Lovers want and need suffering as the highest test and proof of love.

+Bishop Raymundo J. Peña

last updated 11-Jan-2010 8:22 sitemap