Happiness in Suffering

ALL SUFFERING HAS A PURPOSE! God made us for eternity, and His aim in all that He does, and in all those things that He permits to happen, is to bring us happily to that Blessed Eternity which knows no end nor sadness. Pain, anguish, and tribulations are sometimes required to break the strong chains with which, in our foolishness, we bind our hearts to the vanities of this world. In God’s designs, suffering and afflictions may be sent to us in punishment for sin, or as its atonement, or to preserve in us the grace of God. They are intended to increase our merits and bring us to the unending glory of Heaven.

Jesus, by His human Suffering, has elevated all human sorrows and pains, and has given them their power and their value. If we see in suffering "the good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Rom. 12:2), God is enabled to attune our souls to the harmony of Heaven. The secret of happiness in suffering, therefore, lies in our faith in the grace and love of God.

The chalice of sorrow and suffering will be presented to each one of us in this life; but its bitterness will never exceed our strength of soul. God, Who permits every trial, knows our virtue and our strength, and thereby He measures the intensity of the sorrows with which He allows us to be tried. The important thing for us to remember at such times is that His Providence never fails, and thus try to accept suffering, of whatever kind, with resignation to His holy Will, and even with joy.

Joy in suffering does not consist in any sensible delight. It is wholly interior and spiritual, the pure and Divine joy of conformity to God’s holy Will. Is it not joy to think that for each pain cheerfully borne, we shall love God more throughout eternity?

We perhaps may not see what good is hidden in sickness; but God knows what is best for our salvation. Suffering borne patiently brings health to the soul, and what is better for us than this? Let us, then, accept illness patiently from the hands of God, with submission to His all-holy designs. This will be of greater benefit to us than if by our own choice we were to enjoy health and perform a great many good works.

In bodily sufferings, let us bow to the Will of God. He sends us this or that malady; He sends it at this or that time; He allows it to continue for such or such a period; He connects it with this or that circumstance. When we are attacked by illness, it is best to desire neither sickness nor health, but to abandon ourselves to the Will of God, after the example of Our Lady, that He may dispose of us according to His good pleasure.

Once when St. Mechtilde was suffering intensely, Our Lord said to her: "Place all your pains in My Heart, and I will make them so perfect and so fruitful that they will obtain honor for the blessed in Heaven, merit for the just, forgiveness for sinners, and refreshment for the Poor Souls in Purgatory."

Whenever any pain or grief comes to you, offer it to the Divine Love of Jesus as He Himself taught St. Mechtilde: "O my sweet Love, I offer Thee this little pain, and commend it to Thee with that same intention wherewith Thou hast sent it down to me from Thy Sacred Heart, beseeching Thee to record it on high with my deepest gratitude."

Reflecting on the Sufferings of Jesus in His Passion will be most fruitful in producing resignation to God’s holy Will, and love of one’s own cross. Jesus endured long and horrible tortures without complaining, without murmuring, and without manifesting the least sign of irritation. On the contrary, with meekness, tranquillity, and invincible patience, He accepted everything, thinking meanwhile of us, and offering to God the Father the streams of Precious Blood, flowing from His torn Body, for the pardon of our sins.

"Give me, O Lord Jesus, the light of the Holy Ghost, that I may understand better the value of suffering. O Most Sacred Heart, Who didst lift Thyself up in acts of pure prayer amidst the strain of Thy agony, touch my cold heart with a spark of Thy fire, that I may learn to truly pray in the hour of sorrow and pain! Give me strength, O my suffering Savior, to grow each day, through bearing my cross, to be more and more like unto Thee. Amen."

Passion of Christ, strengthen me! Strength of the Heart of Jesus, sustain me!