Chapter s31 The Mystery of Suffering

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Suffering and Original Sin

Our understanding of suffering and death might be influenced by our understanding of Original Sin.  If we understand suffering and death to be a result of (Original) Sin, this may direct us to an overly "negative" view of the mystery. 

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Suffering and Actual (Our) Sins

Is suffering the result of our sins (that is, actual sin as opposed to Original Sin)?  Yes and No

Yes:  e.g. life style

No:  accidents, crime, etc. 

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The Positive Value of Suffering

T  e.g. pain tells us to go to the doctor... etc

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The Sufferings of Jesus

It has been a traditional and excepted part of Catholic piety to unite our sufferings with the sufferings of Jesus on the cross. 

Some devotional practices put much emphasis on the suffering of Jesus.  "Is there any sorrow like my sorrow?"  Devotion and doctrine are not the same thing.  --  For example, I have hear Catholics say:  "Jesus only suffered 3 hours;  I have been in intense pain 30 years!"  -- "The Romans crucified hundreds and thousands of people, not just Jesus.  And many hung on their crosses suffering for days; Jesus died relatively quickly!"  "Those soldiers in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ were just doing their job, the job they did day in and day out.  There were no more mean and cruel to Jesus than to any other criminal who came under their care, and probably less so!"  

And I have heard others say:  "Jesus knew that if he continued to upset the religious and civil leaders he would be arrested.  Yet he went ahead deliberately.  In a real sense, his death is a suicide.  It not something he had no control over.  I have no control over my pain.  I did nothing to cause it." 

When speaking of the sacrifice of Jesus (or when speaking of the sacrifice of the Mass) the focus is not on suffering but on the biblical understanding of the nature of sacrifice:  joyful union with God. 

Note the difference between "healing" and a "cure."

“I [Paul] 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. I became its servant according to God's commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints.” (Colossians 1:24-26 NRSV)

TRR:  Note:  Mystery - mysterion - God's Plan for the world to be "summed up" "come to a head" in Christ.  Mysterion becomes Sacramentum.  Jesus is the sacrament of God.  This forces us to rethink the Greek philosophers' notion of the divinity.  "The sick offer a sign to the community that through the weak, the sick, and the suffering, we see Christ."  [RG]

Note:  Incarnational theology, especially the Franciscan School, understands that God would have taken flesh and come among us even if Adam did not sin.  Incarnation does necessarily imply crucifixion, suffering, and death.

 Sidney Callahan. Created for Joy: A Christian View of Suffering.  Crossroad. 246p $19.95 (paperback)

"In empathy and love Jesus suffers not only his own pain and distress, but all the world’s past, present, and future travail. Moreover, as we have seen, empathy can be felt for the ignorant and deformed evildoers who in their moral wickedness reject the light and remain in darkness. In this sense Jesus bears the burdens and sins of humankind. He is innocent, but through loving empathy can suffer for the lethal and sinful lapses of his people. His bearing of the sins of the world is not a passive punishment laid on Jesus by God, but rather it is a voluntary act of love and empathy for the human family. A mother mourns and suffers vicariously in and with her children’s destructive sins, and so Jesus suffers for us." I have cited this passage at length, because I think it recapitulates the heart of Created for Joy. The heart is Incarnation. God so loved the world that God gave the beloved Son. Jesus so loves us that he continues to give himself, sharing our sufferings that he might in turn share with us his life. Sidney Callahan’s book, in plumbing suffering’s depths and celebrating joy’s heights, is, first and last, a love song to this loving God who creates us for joy. [From a review of the book by Rev. Robert P. Imbelli, America September 24, 2007 (197:8 Whole No. 4786), p 27.]

Mother Teresa.  Mother Teresa:  Come, Be My Light.  The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta. 

Most believers who read Come Be My Light will at some point ask, "Why would God do this?" Of course one might just as well ask, "Why is there suffering?"

In his Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius Loyola suggests three possible explanations for spiritual desolation. First, we may be "tepid, lazy or negligent" in prayer. Clearly this was not the case for Mother Teresa, who was utterly faithful to her daily prayer, to the Mass and to frequent visits to the Blessed Sacrament. Second, it may test "how much we are worth and how far we will extend ourselves in the service and praise of God." Again, if Mother Teresa, who worked tirelessly until her death, did not "extend herself," who of us has? Third, it may give us "true recognition" that consolation is "a gift and grace from God our Lord." In other words, it reminds us who is in control. But after 10 or 20 years of the darkness, Mother Teresa had grasped this, as her letters to her spiritual directors demonstrate.

Any divine "reasons" for her trials remain mysterious. But with hindsight certain fruits of her suffering—besides the heightened ability to identify with the poor—may suggest themselves.  (James Martini, "In My Soul" America, September 24, 2007 (197:8 Whole No. 4786), p 16.) 

The Mystery of Suffering

The current Ritual, Pastoral Care of the Sick, speaks of the "Mystery of Suffering" in the very first paragraph: 

Suffering and illness have always been among the greatest problems that trouble the human spirit.  Christians feel and experience pain as do all other people; yet their faith helps tem to grasp more deeply the mystery of suffering ad to bear their pain with greater courage.  From Christ's words they know that sickness has meaning and value for their own salvation and for the salvation of the world.  They also know that Christ, who during his life often visited and healed the sick, loves them in their illness.

HUMAN SICKNESS AND ITS MEANING IN THE MYSTERY OF SALVATION

"Suffering and illness have always been among the greatest problems that trouble the human spirit. Christians feel and experience pain as do all other people; yet their faith helps them to grasp more deeply the mystery of suffering and to bear their pain with greater courage. From Christ’s words they know that sickness has meaning and value for their own salvation and for the salvation of the world. They also know that Christ, who during his life often visited and healed the sick, loves them in their illness." (PCS, 1)

Our understanding of suffering and death might also be influenced by our understanding of what happens after death.  If after death people go to heaven, purgatory, or hell -- and if very few go directly to heaven, most good people go to purgatory -- and if purgatory is just like the sufferings of hell, only not as long -- this does not give a very "happy" prospect to dying!

Is suffering the result of sin? For example, in the video in which we viewed in class regarding the five year old girl who had been killed in an automobile accident by a drunk driver. We should not and can not say that the cause of the accident was some sin that her parents have committed. The case is similar to the gospel who the man born blind in John Chapter nine.

However there is situations in which suffering is the result of sin, at least indirectly. Physically; poor diet can cause obesity, excessive smoking can cause lung cancer. In these cases the illness or suffering is to not directly willed but it is a direct result of bad decisions. These decisions may not be among the list of "sins" in the catacizim but in the biblical sense of sin as missing the mark or falling short. These actions would be seen as sinful.

Praying with the sick.

The minister who is visiting the sick of the parish should have at his or her disposal a book or list of prayers which the minister has found appropriate and appreciated by the people he has visited.

There are also occasions where spontaneous prayer is appropriate. As Catholics are not always accustomed to making up prayers. One formula that can be of help is the Baraka.

The Baraka has three parts. Naming god, grateful remembering, and partition. For example, merciful God, source of our life and peace, you have blessed us with a wonderful family and you have given us a gift of faith in your son Jesus. As we believe you were with him in his suffering and you raised him from the dead. Be with us now in this time of trial. Let us feel your presence and make us sure that no harm will come within us.

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