Catholic why do we suffer

Depression defeats us. Violence wounds us or harms a loved one. Illness ravages us or overtakes a family member. Suffering afflicts everybody. Jesus not only promised suffering; he also made bearing personal crosses a daily requirement for all of his followers see Luke , NIV.

Making the sign of the cross proclaims our yes to this condition of discipleship. When we sign ourselves we are taking up our cross and accepting whatever suffering comes our way. And we are subordinating our will—that would rather not endure pain—to God, just as Jesus subordinated his will to his Father when he gave himself to the cross.

Christians attempt to comfort sufferers by touting the benefits of suffering. The care that parents give their children suggests answers to both questions. Bartunek Our Patron Saints Contact. Gospel Reflections Retreat Guides Videos. Q: As a devout Catholic and Regnum Christi member, I am often asked why God allows so much pain and suffering in the world, especially when it involves innocent children. What is the most beneficial way to respond to this question, particularly to those without a firm faith foundation, to promote hope and healing and avoid despair in the midst of so much sorrow?

Finding the right words to comfort and console can be most difficult. Average Rating. One Comment I am confused about prayer. Log in to Reply. Leave a Reply Cancel reply You must be logged in to post a comment. Get the Answers! Get notified of future Ask a Priest answers via email.

First Name. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Keyword Search. Appreciate what you read? The YOUCAT 33 says, "Faith holds fast to this promise, although the experience of suffering and evil in the world may make people wonder whether God is really loving. At the same time, he is not carelessly looking away. He allows the full force of human tragedy to touch his heart — a heart full of mercy. He sent what he loves the most — his son — into our realm of death.

This is supposed to tell us that where people suffer, God suffers as well. Sometimes we say, "he is suffering like an animal. Even more: God does not suffer like a human being, but as a human being, so as to tell us how he feels in his most inner being.

He is suffering in order to prove to us his unconditional, perfect love — a love without boundaries, a love that gives its life for the other. He suffers so that no one can say, "I know of a place you do not know, God: my sufferings! God does not merely perform some kind of demonstration "Hey, look, I am innocent, and I am also suffering because of your suffering". In his universal compassion, the creator of the world forged a path back to paradise, a bridge over the abyss of death.

Christians have very good reasons to believe that Jesus Christ is the only way, the only bridge to life. Jesus takes all that upon himself which for every human being, and even for God, is almost too horrible to watch. We are the ones who should atone, especially for the crimes we commit.

Yet he atones in a different way. We are the ones who should pay the bill, especially for our omissions. He pays all the bills. We are actually the ones who should suffer, especially for those things which we brought upon ourselves.

But it is He who carries all the suffering of sin upon the cross. We are the ones who should die as a penalty. He dies for us in the most horrible manner, a way invented to torture criminals to death in ancient times, so that we might have a path back to paradise. Does God suffer? The traditional answer is no, because God is immutable and impassible, and to suffer is to change or to be changed.

But modern theologians, including feminist theologians, say that God is impinged upon by our sufferings. The ability to freely enter into the suffering of another is an excellence, not an imperfection. That love always involves a sense of mutuality, reciprocity, of being vulnerable to the hurts of the other. It so much depends on how you understand perfection. He made that reign of God present in his words and his deeds: touching the leper, dining with sinners, etc.

The suffering needs to be seen as an outcome; he got himself in trouble by the way he lived. Do these big theological ideas help us with our own concrete experiences of suffering? Two men and a boy are arrested. All the prisoners are forced to watch them be hanged. It takes him a long time to die.

Where is God now? Wiesel never really explains what he means by that passage, but I think a Christian can read that and understand that God is in the suffering one. Seeing God in the suffering means you approach them with reverence. But you have to realize that this is especially sacred ground. You have to tread lightly. Pastoral workers, whether priests or lay people, are human beings. Sometimes pastors want to have quick answers for people, rather than sit with them.

Even in preaching, we want to sound convincing and like we know something. Otherwise, why are we up there? But sometimes you have to let your own vulnerability come out, whether at a funeral or where a child is dying.