The Meaning of Christian Suffering: Pope Benedict's Recent Thoughts on the Purpose of Human Pain

Each person suffers at some point during their life. It is a central part of the human experience; suffering is inevitable. But equally as true is the fact that almost all people ascribe some purpose to that agony. It appears to be a fundamental human attitude that suffering, somehow, makes us better. This is reflected in the words of the age-old maxim: "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

Indeed, the doctrine of the Catholic Church maintains a similar view. For 2,000 years, the Church has been teaching that suffering, although itself not a desirable thing, is at the center of the Christian mission. To suffer meaningfully, for Catholics, is to arrive closer to the vision of eternal life.

Suffering -- A Sign of Good vs. Evil

In a recent Angelus message, Pope Benedict XVI hit on the very core of the Church's belief that there is, in fact, a great value and worthiness to be found in human agony. To be sure, the Church's understanding of human suffering lies at the very heart of salvation itself.

The fundamental reason behind this connection, between salvation and suffering, lies in the very nature of the Church's understanding of good and evil. In Catholic thought, good, on the one hand, is understood to be the perfect design of God; evil, on the other hand, is the result of the selfish and prideful designs of his creatures. Salvation, then, is that action of God that eliminates the power of evil by conquering it once and for all. This occurs specifically in Jesus Christ's freely accepted death on the cross, and in his resurrection from the tomb. By dying, the God-man destroys death; by rising, he restores life, and gives hope for eternal life to all men.

Meaningful Suffering -- The Power of the Cross

Throughout the Scriptures, there are many accounts of Christ's power over death, particularly as it relates to his acceptance of the suffering of Calvary. One concrete and often-cited display of this triumph over evil is his ability to cast out devils (cf. Mark 1:21-28). In last week's Angelus address, Pope Benedict noted that the Son of God is able to rebuke these unclean spirits because he confounds them with a willingness to suffer for the sake of humanity, something diametrically opposed to their nature as demons. Jesus wills what is good while they grasp for what is deficient and, in turn, what is evil.

"The cross of Christ will be the demon's ruin," said Pope Benedict, "and this is why Jesus does not cease to teach his disciples that in order to enter into his glory he must suffer much, be rejected, condemned and crucified. Suffering is an integral part of his mission." (ZENIT) In turn, it is an integral part of the Christian faith as a whole.

The Pontiff's teaching sums up nicely the whole crux of the Church's understanding of suffering as central to the Christian mission. In a world where both good and evil reside, suffering indicates the conflict of the two. In the words of Saint Augustine, evil is the "privation of a due good," a lack of goodness where goodness ought to be. If this is so, then suffering is an essential part of moving from fallenness to uprightness, and from sinfulness to eternal life. Only through suffering does man come to be less dependent on this world and more dependent on the Trinity, whose interpersonal love far supercedes the conquered power of death.

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Feb 3, 2009 6:36 PM

Michael Streich :

What about the suffering caused by the Catholic Church? I refer now to their own employees, the laity. Catholic lay workers are underpaid and the notion of social justice is never applied to them. The response I often hear that, "this is our church" is simply not enough. Bishops run their dioceses as virtual fiefdoms, not tolerating any perceived non-conformity. I myself am a victim of this after 18 years of faithful service. Other colleagues working in parish ministries or schools have also SUFFERED through lay offs, being terminated from one day to the next, etc. In St. Louis last year a respected nun and church leader was excommunicated for attending the ordination of a woman in a Lutheran Church.

Suffering sounds great, as you explain it, but in real terms there are a lot of people out here whose suffering is directly attributable to the Catholic Church. Charity begins at home. The Church and its leaders sorely need a spiritual self evaluation in terms of how they treat their own employees.

Feb 3, 2009 7:12 PM

Andrew Haines :

Michael,

Thanks for your comment. Your points are well taken, and I sympathize with your personal testimony.

Unfortunately, I don't think that here is the forum to discuss particular matters of diocesan governance and/or discrete instances of suffering for those employees of various dioceses throughout the nation.

Indeed, suffering occurs in many places--even the Church itself. And, as I tried to convey, the reality of suffering is something that is inevitable when good collides with imperfection (or evil). According to the faith of the Church (and most philosophical outlooks on the world), a degree of evil exists even in the most upright of persons/organizations. The Church--insofar as it is a group of human individuals--is not perfect. But this does not negate the teaching of the same Church that suffering, if accepted willingly and united with the suffering of Christ on the Cross, is meaningful.

Thanks for reading, and I hope that you will read more in the future. I will try my best to address important issues that you might be interested in.