The dividend of our suffering

IN the Memorial of the Passion of St. John the Baptist, celebrated on August 29, we are reminded of the ideal that we should not to be afraid of suffering and even of martyrdom, out of our love and fidelity to God, because in the end a greater good can come out of it.

As we can see in the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist, brought about by the most unfair of reasons, the event galvanized the faith of the apostles and the early Christians, and sowed the seed of the spread of the Christian message.

For us, suffering and death should always be a given. They should not anymore be a surprise. In fact, we have to keep them in mind always, preparing ourselves always for them, since if we have to be consistent with our Christian life, we know that to follow Christ, we have to deny ourselves and carry the cross. (cfr. Mt 16,24)

Christ told us to be willing to lose not only things and other precious items and persons, but also our life itself, because if done with and for God, we will gain a lot more than what we may appear to lose. Christ said it clearly: “Whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” (Mt 10,39)

More, he said that “everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” (Mt 19,29)

We should keep these divine assurances strongly in mind so that we would know what to do when suffering and death would eventually come. We have to learn to see them as an invitation to be more and more like Christ as we should.

Given our wounded condition in this life, there are times when what Christ said once can come true. We should be willing to lose an arm, a hand and an eye, if they cause us to sin. (cfr. Mt 5,29-32) Christ himself walked the talk when he himself offered not only a part of his body, but his very own life itself on the cross just to save us.

Yes, there can be joy in suffering only if we identify ourselves with Christ. With Christ, suffering becomes an act of selfless love that can take on anything. Only in him can we find joy and meaning in suffering. With him, suffering loses its purely negative and painful character, and assumes the happy salvific character.

We need to process this truth of our faith thoroughly, always asking for God’s grace and training all our powers and faculties to adapt to this reality. The self-denial and the carrying of the cross, as Christ taught us, will enable us to see that suffering is obviously the consequence of all our sins—ours and those of others.

Embracing suffering the way Christ embraced his cross unites our suffering with that of Christ. It is how our suffering can acquire a redemptive value.

Our motive for suffering should be like that of Christ. It’s the desire to conquer that suffering and ultimately our death through his death and resurrection. It’s obeying God’s will just like Christ obeyed his Father’s will. “Not my will but yours be done.”

Our reaction to any form of suffering in this life should therefore be theological and ascetical. It should be guided and inspired by faith. Only through it can our suffering give us the greatest dividend—our own purification, sanctification, salvation.