Have you ever had anyone tell you “offer it up” after you complained about something? Maybe you found it annoying, or confusing. “Offer what up? And to who?” you may have wondered. When someone tells you to “offer it up”, they’re encouraging you to give your pain to Jesus, to spiritually unite it to his Cross. When you offer your suffering to Christ, he makes it redemptive! He will cause it to redeem others!!
Suffering is Christ’s invitation to follow him. Pope John Paul II, in his letter on suffering Salvifici Doloris, says, “Christ does not explain in the abstract the reasons for suffering, but before all else he says: “Follow me!” Come! Take part through your suffering in this work of saving the world, a salvation achieved through my suffering! Through my Cross. Gradually, as the individual takes up his cross, spiritually uniting himself to the Cross of Christ, the salvific meaning of suffering is revealed before him” (Section 26).
St. Paul tells the Colossians, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church.” How can he find joy in pain? Is he insane? Is he masochistic? Not at all. John Paul II explains, “A source of joy is found in the overcoming of the sense of the uselessness of suffering… This feeling not only consumes the person interiorly, but seems to make him a burden to others. The person feels condemned to receive help and assistance from others, and at the same time seems useless to himself. The discovery of the salvific meaning of suffering in union with Christ transforms this depressing feeling. Faith in sharing in the suffering of Christ brings with it the interior certainty that the suffering person ‘completes what is lacking in Christ's afflictions’; the certainty that in the spiritual dimension of the work of Redemption he is serving, like Christ, the salvation of his brothers and sisters. Therefore he is carrying out an irreplaceable service. … It is suffering, more than anything else, which clears the way for the grace which transforms human souls” (Section 27).
In his conclusion, the Pope John Paul II says, “[T]here should come together in spirit beneath the Cross on Calvary all suffering people who believe in Christ… so that the offering of their sufferings may hasten the fulfilment of the prayer of the Saviour himself that all may be one… [W]e ask all you who suffer to support us. We ask precisely you who are weak to become a source of strength for the Church and humanity. In the terrible battle between the forces of good and evil, revealed to our eyes by our modern world, may your suffering in union with the Cross of Christ be victorious!”
These are wonderful words to chew on. What St. Paul is saying is GOOD NEWS for all who may feel useless to society or a burden on their families because of injury, illness or old age! Such people can perform an “irreplaceable service” to the Church and to the world if they offer their suffering to Christ! This is true even if the suffering is the result of our sin!
Did you know that Christ “needs” our help in saving the world? He chooses to “need” our help in distributing his saving grace to souls! Pope Piux XII says, “In carrying out the work of redemption Christ wishes to be helped by the members of His Body. This is not because He is indigent or weak, but rather because He so willed it for the greater glory of His spotless Spouse. Dying on the Cross, He left to the Church the immense treasury of the Redemption. Towards this she (the Church) contributed nothing. But when those graces come to be distributed, not only does He share this task of sanctification with His Church, but he wants it, in a way, to be due to her action. What a deep mystery . . . that the salvation of many depends on the prayers and voluntary penances which the members of the Mystical Body offer for that intention, and on the assistance of pastors of souls and of the faithful, especially fathers and mothers of families, which they must offer to our divine Savior as though they were His associates."
So what should we do when suffering seems meaningless? The Second Vatican Council says, “Through Christ and in Christ, the riddles of sorrow and death grow meaningful” (Gaudium et Spes, 22). So whenever we wonder about the meaning of our suffering or that of others, we should look to Christ on the Cross. This is one of the reasons the Catholic Church displays crucifixes in her churches, schools, and institutions. Whenever we see a crucifix, we should remember not only that Jesus redeemed us through his suffering, but also that he wants us to help him redeem others by offering our sufferings to him.
Suffering can either drive us towards or away from God. Fr. Paul A. Duffner says, “[Suffering] can make one resentful and bitter - even blaming God for his lot, or it can make one more conscious of God’s providence at work. It can make one turn in on himself in self-pity, or it can help one to open out upon the world in apostolic and redemptive action” (http://www.rosary-center.org/ll49n2.htm). Throughout the day, let’s see our aches, pains, sufferings, discomforts, frustrations, setbacks, irritations, fatigue, delays, sorrow at the loss of a loved one, disappointments, humiliations, being misunderstood, falsely accused, etc. as OPPORTUNITIES: 1) to remember, and 2) to pray.
Suffering is an opportunity to REMEMBER that Jesus is with us, sitting beside us, gazing upon us with unconditional love, suffering with us, crying with us. Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor…those who mourn…are persecuted…insulted…hungry.” Our suffering is blessed because it is Jesus’ suffering and because he is with us! Corrie ten Boom, while in a Nazi death camp, said, “No matter how deep our darkness, he is deeper still.”
Suffering is an opportunity to PRAY, “Jesus I love you, and I offer you this suffering. Please make it redemptive for someone in need.” If we do this with love and faith, our suffering will become meaningful and profitable. Imagine the joy of meeting, when we leave this world, those who got to heaven through the help of our prayers and sufferings offered to our Suffering Savior.
Peter Kreeft's article was one of my sources. I HIGHLY recommend it: http://peterkreeft.com/
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