Lesson 34 - Take Up Your Cross and Follow Me

(Lesson 34)

Take up Your Cross and Follow Me

”….we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” Rom 8:17

Discussion Guide:

Why does God permit suffering and evil in this world? It would seem that if God were really all-powerful and all good, he would stop all disease and human misery at the snap of his divine finger. Many atheists foolishly use this argument to justify their false philosophy. They refuse to believe in anything that the natural mind cannot explain. In reality, since we are only human, we are not capable of fully understanding the ways of the Eternal God. Like the prophet Isaiah says: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)” Although, it still remains a mystery in many ways, the Catholic Church provides some very illuminating insights into human suffering.

Jesus Christ nailed to the cross is the best explanation for the meaning of suffering in this world. As the saying goes: He paid a debt that he did not owe, because we owed a debt that we could not pay. Although he was completely free from sin, he was tortured and killed in the most brutal and unjust way imaginable. Never has a worse crime been committed in the history of mankind; the creatures killed their creator! Our loving Father used the suffering of Jesus Christ to bring about the greatest good ever: the redemption of the entire human race! We need faith in his loving providence and his eternal plan whenever we are confronted with suffering in our world. We also need to unite our personal suffering to that of Jesus Christ. As St. Paul says, “now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church"(Col 1:24). Pope John Paul II wrote in Salvifici Doloris, “Christ causes us to enter into the mystery and to discover the "why" of suffering, as far as we are capable of grasping the sublimity of divine love.” Even though we cannot always see the good, “Faith gives us the certainty that God would not permit an evil if he did not cause a good to come from that very evil, by ways that we shall fully know only in eternal life.” (CCC 324) As I once heard a preacher exclaim in the face of grave evil, “God is good; all the time!”

Discussion Points:

· Our minds are limited in comprehending the ways of the Eternal God

· Faith tells us that God is all good and all-powerful even when we can not see it

· God permits bad things to happen in order to bring about a greater good

· Jesus on the cross reveals the ultimate meaning of all human suffering

· We can greatly benefit others and ourselves by uniting our sufferings to those of Jesus Christ (We should offer up all our difficulties to God)

Salvifici Doloris

Apostolic Letter of John Paul II

1. Declaring the power of salvific suffering, the Apostle Paul says: "In my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church"(Col 1:24).

These words seem to be found at the end af the long road that winds through the suffering which forms part of the history of man and which is illuminated by the Word of God. These words have as it were the value of a final discovery, which is accompanied by joy. For this reason Saint Paul writes: "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake". The joy comes from the discovery of the meaning of suffering, and this discovery, even if it is most personally shared in by Paul of Tarsus who wrote these words, is at the same time valid for others. The Apostle shares his own discovery and rejoices in it because of all those whom it can help—just as it helped him—to understand the salvific meaning of suffering.

13. But in order to perceive the true answer to the "why" of suffering, we must look to the revelation of divine love, the ultimate source of the meaning of everything that exists. Love is also the richest source of the meaning of suffering, which always remains a mystery: we are conscious of the insufficiency and inadequacy of our explanations. Christ causes us to enter into the mystery and to discover the "why" of suffering, as far as we are capable of grasping the sublimity of divine love.
In order to discover the profound meaning of suffering, following the revealed word of God, we must open ourselves wide to the human subject in his manifold potentiality. We must above all accept the light of Revelation not only insofar as it expresses the transcendent order of justice but also insofar as it illuminates this order with Love, as the definitive source of everything that exists. Love is: also the fullest source of the answer to the question of the meaning of suffering. This answer has been given by God to man in the Cross of Jesus Christ.

19. ….One can say that with the Passion of Christ all human suffering has found itself in a new situation. And it is as though Job has foreseen this when he said: "I know that my Redeemer lives ...", and as though he had directed towards it his own suffering, which without the Redemption could not have revealed to him the fullness of its meaning.

In the Cross of Christ not only is the Redemption accomplished through suffering, but also human suffering itself has been redeemed, Christ, - without any fault of his own - took on himself "the total evil of sin". The experience of this evil determined the incomparable extent of Christ's suffering, which became the price of the Redemption. The Song of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah speaks of this. In later times, the witnesses of the New Covenant, sealed in the Blood of Christ, will speak of this.

Take up Your Cross and Follow Me

”….we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” Rom 8:17

Opening Prayer:

Lord Jesus, we lift up all the sick and suffering people in this world and place them in Your loving hands. We ask that You comfort all those who are lonely or scared. We pray for all the victims of famine, war, illness, poverty, natural disaster, and disease. Amen

Theme:

Human suffering is a mystery that will be fully understood only when we get to Heaven. Faith gives us the certainty that God would not permit an evil if he did not cause a good to come from that very evil, by ways that we shall fully know only in eternal life. (CCC 324) Our suffering can be united to the redemptive suffering of Christ for the benefit of others and ourselves.

Bible Readings:

James 1:12 Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him.

Romans 8:28 We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.

Colossians 1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church….

Job 2:2-10 And the LORD said to Satan, "Whence have you come?" Satan answered the LORD, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it." And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you moved me against him, to destroy him without cause." Then Satan answered the LORD, "Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. But put forth thy hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face." And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your power; only spare his life." So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD, and afflicted Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes. Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God, and die." But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Explanation of the Bible readings: Trials are a regular part of life. The way we bear them is what matters most. St. James plainly teaches us that we must endure trials to receive the crown that Christ promises. St. Paul assures us that God is in control no matter what circumstance we find ourselves in. It may not seem like it to us, but God will work it out for the best if we continue to have faith in him. The letter of St. Paul to the Colossians tells us that in some mysterious way, suffering has a value to God. Human suffering benefits the body of Christ, the Church, when we offer it up and unite it to the cross. The book of Job illustrates that God permits bad things to happen to good people. Job is a model of patience and loving faith in God. He did not resent God even in the face of serious illness and tragedy. His wife wanted him to “curse God and die” but Job would not commit the sin of blasphemy. He should be an example to us when we are tempted to complain about being treated unfairly by God.

Catechism of the Catholic Church:

324 The fact that God permits physical and even moral evil is a mystery that God illuminates by his Son Jesus Christ who died and rose to vanquish evil. Faith gives us the certainty that God would not permit an evil if he did not cause a good to come from that very evil, by ways that we shall fully know only in eternal life.

314 We firmly believe that God is master of the world and of its history. But the ways of his providence are often unknown to us. Only at the end, when our partial knowledge ceases, when we see God "face to face", will we fully know the ways by which - even through the dramas of evil and sin - God has guided his creation to that definitive sabbath rest for which he created heaven and earth.
1501 Illness can lead to anguish, self-absorption, sometimes even despair and revolt against God. It can also make a person more mature, helping him discern in his life what is not essential so that he can turn toward that which is. Very often illness provokes a search for God and a return to him.

The sick person before God

1502 The man of the Old Testament lives his sickness in the presence of God. It is before God that he laments his illness, and it is of God, Master of life and death, that he implores healing. Illness becomes a way to conversion; God's forgiveness initiates the healing. It is the experience of Israel that illness is mysteriously linked to sin and evil, and that faithfulness to God according to his law restores life: "For I am the Lord, your healer." The prophet intuits that suffering can also have a redemptive meaning for the sins of others. Finally Isaiah announces that God will usher in a time for Zion when he will pardon every offense and heal every illness.

1503 Christ's compassion toward the sick and his many healings of every kind of infirmity are a resplendent sign that "God has visited his people" and that the Kingdom of God is close at hand. Jesus has the power not only to heal, but also to forgive sins; he has come to heal the whole man, soul and body; he is the physician the sick have need of. His compassion toward all who suffer goes so far that he identifies himself with them: "I was sick and you visited me." His preferential love for the sick has not ceased through the centuries to draw the very special attention of Christians toward all those who suffer in body and soul. It is the source of tireless efforts to comfort them.

1505 Moved by so much suffering Christ not only allows himself to be touched by the sick, but he makes their miseries his own: "He took our infirmities and bore our diseases." But he did not heal all the sick. His healings were signs of the coming of the Kingdom of God. They announced a more radical healing: the victory over sin and death through his Passover. On the cross Christ took upon himself the whole weight of evil and took away the "sin of the world," of which illness is only a consequence. By his passion and death on the cross Christ has given a new meaning to suffering: it can henceforth configure us to him and unite us with his redemptive Passion.

Providence and the scandal of evil

309 If God the Father almighty, the Creator of the ordered and good world, cares for all his creatures, why does evil exist? To this question, as pressing as it is unavoidable and as painful as it is mysterious, no quick answer will suffice. Only Christian faith as a whole constitutes the answer to this question: the goodness of creation, the drama of sin and the patient love of God who comes to meet man by his covenants, the redemptive Incarnation of his Son, his gift of the Spirit, his gathering of the Church, the power of the sacraments and his call to a blessed life to which free creatures are invited to consent in advance, but from which, by a terrible mystery, they can also turn away in advance. There is not a single aspect of the Christian message that is not in part an answer to the question of evil.

310 But why did God not create a world so perfect that no evil could exist in it? With infinite power God could always create something better. But with infinite wisdom and goodness God freely willed to create a world "in a state of journeying" towards its ultimate perfection….

312 In time we can discover that God in his almighty providence can bring a good from the consequences of an evil, even a moral evil, caused by his creatures…..From the greatest moral evil ever committed - the rejection and murder of God's only Son, caused by the sins of all men - God, by his grace that "abounded all the more", brought the greatest of goods: the glorification of Christ and our redemption. But for all that, evil never becomes a good.

313 "We know that in everything God works for good for those who love him. "The constant witness of the saints confirms this truth:
St. Catherine of Siena said to "those who are scandalized and rebel against what happens to them": "Everything comes from love, all is ordained for the salvation of man, God does nothing without this goal in mind." St. Thomas More, shortly before his martyrdom, consoled his daughter: "Nothing can come but that that God wills. And I make me very sure that whatsoever that be, seem it never so bad in sight, it shall indeed be the best."

Dame Julian of Norwich: "Here I was taught by the grace of God that I should steadfastly keep me in the faith. . . and that at the same time I should take my stand on and earnestly believe in what our Lord shewed in this time - that 'all manner [of] thing shall be well.'"

Faith words:

Providence: The all-regulating and stable plan by which God, as supreme ruler of the universe, directs or ordains all things to their final end.

Redemptive Suffering: "In bringing about the Redemption through suffering, Christ raised human suffering to the level of the Redemption. Thus each man, in his sufferings, can also become a sharer in the redemptive suffering of Christ" (Salvifici Doloris, Pope John Paul II)

Reflection Questions:

Do you ever feel angry or upset at God when tragedy occurs in your life?







Name a few of the sufferings, big or small, that can be offered up to God.







What different kinds of miracles could Jesus work through a person who is very ill?