While not a story, still inspirational How to Make the Greatest Evil in Our Lives Our Greatest Happiness by Fr. Paul O'Sullivan, O.P. Suffering is the great problem of human life. We all have to suffer. Sometimes small sorrows, sometimes greater ones fall to our share. We shall now tell our readers how to avoid much of this suffering, how to lessen all suffering and how to derive great benefits from every suffering we may have to bear. The reason why suffering appears so hard is that, first of all, we are not taught what suffering is. Secondly, we are not taught how to bear it. Thirdly, we are not taught the priceless value of suffering. This is due to the incomprehensible neglect on the part of our teachers. It is surprising how easily some people bear great sufferings; whereas, others get excited even at the smallest trouble. The simple reason is that some have been taught all about suffering; others have not. SUFFERING IS NOT THE EVIL WE THINK IT IS First of all, then, suffering is not simply an evil, for no one suffered more than the Son of God Himself, more than His Blessed Mother or more than the Saints. Every suffering comes from God. It may appear to come to us by chance or accident or from someone else, but in reality, every suffering comes to us from God. Nothing happens to us without His wish or permission. Not even a hair falls from our heads without His consent. Why does God allow us to suffer? Simply because He is asking us to take a little share in His Passion. What appears to come by chance or from someone else always comes because God allows it. Every act in Our Lord's life was a lesson for us. The greatest act in His life was His Passion. This, then, is the greatest lesson for us. It teaches us that we too must suffer. God suffered all the dreadful pains of His Passion for each one of us. How can we refuse to suffer a little for love of Him? SUFFERING IS THE GOLD IN OUR LIVES Secondly, if we accept the sufferings He sends us and offer them in union with His sufferings, we receive the greatest rewards. Five minutes' suffering borne for love of Jesus is of greater value to us than years and years of pleasure and joy. The Saints tell us that if we patiently bear our sufferings, we merit the crown of martyrdom. Moreover, suffering borne patiently brings out all that is good in us. Those who have suffered are usually the most charming people. If we bear these facts clearly in mind, it certainly becomes much easier to suffer. GOD ALWAYS GIVES STRENGTH TO BEAR OUR SUFFERINGS Thirdly, when God gives us any suffering, He always gives us strength to bear it, if we only ask Him. Many, instead of asking for His help, get excited and revolt. It is this excitement and impatience that really make suffering hard to bear. Consider that we are now speaking of all suffering, even the most trifling ones. All of us have little troubles, pains, disappointments, every day of our lives. All these, if borne for love of God, obtain for us, as we have said, the greatest rewards. HOW TO BEAR SUFFERING Even the greater sufferings that may fall to our share from time to time become easy to bear if we accept them with serenity and patience. What really makes suffering difficult to bear is our own impatience, our revolt, our refusal to accept it. This irritation increases our sufferings a hundredfold and, besides, robs us of all the merit we could have gained thereby. We see some people pass through a tempest of suffering with the greatest calm and serenity; whereas, others get irritated at the slightest annoyance or disappointment. We can all learn this calm and patience. It is the secret of happiness. An eminent physician, in a conference which he gave to distinguished scientists and fellow doctors, told them that he owed all his great success in life to the simple fact that he had corrected his habit of impatience and annoyance, which had been destroying all his energy and activity. Everyone, we repeat, without exception, can learn this calm and serenity. PENANCE We must all do penance for our sins. If we do not, we shall have long years of suffering in the awful fires of Purgatory. This fire is just the same as the fire of Hell. Now, if we offer our sufferings -the very little ones as well as the greater ones- in union with the sufferings of Jesus Christ, we are doing the easiest and best penance we can perform. We may thus deliver ourselves entirely from Purgatory, while at the same time gaining the greatest graces and blessings. Let us remember clearly that: I) Sufferings come from God for our benefit. 2) When we are in the state of grace, we derive immense merit from every suffering borne patiently, even the little sufferings of our daily lives. 3) God will give us abundant strength to bear our sufferings if we only ask Him. 4) If we bear our sufferings patiently, they lose their sting and bitterness. 5) Above all, every suffering is a share in the Passion of Our Lord. 6) By our sufferings, we can free ourselves in great part, or entirely, from the pains of Purgatory. 7) By bearing our sufferings patiently, we win the glorious crown of martyrdom. Of course, we may do all in our power to avoid or lessen our sufferings, but we cannot avoid all suffering. Therefore, it is clearly necessary for us to learn how to bear them. In a word, we must understand clearly that if we remain calm, serene and patient, suffering loses all its sting, but the moment we get excited, the smallest suffering increases a hundredfold. It is just as if we had a sore arm or leg and rubbed it violently; it would become irritated and painful; whereas, if we touch it gently, we soothe the irritation. We suffer from ill-health, from pains, headaches, rheumatism, arthritis, from accidents, from enemies. We may have financial difficulties. Some suffer for weeks in their homes, some in hospitals or nursing homes. In a word, we are in a vale of tears. Almighty God could have saved us from all suffering, but He did not do so because He knows in His infinite goodness that suffering is good for us. We have a great, great remedy in our hands. We should pray earnestly and constantly, asking God to help us to suffer, to console us, or if it pleases Him, to deliver us from suffering. This is all, all important. A very eminent doctor, in an able article he recently published in the secular press, says that " Prayer is the greatest power in the world." He says, "I and my colleagues frequently see that many of our patients, whom we have failed to cure or whose pains we have failed to alleviate, have cured themselves by prayer. I speak now not of the prayers of holy people, but the prayers of ordinary Christians." We should above all pray to Our Lady of Sorrows in all our troubles. We should ask her, by the oceans of sorrow she felt during the Passion of Our Lord, to help us. God gave her all the immense graces necessary to make her the perfect Mother of God, but He also gave her all the graces, the tenderness, the love necessary to be our most perfect and loving Mother. No mother on earth ever loved a child as Our Blessed Lady loves us. Therefore, in all our troubles and sorrows. let us go to Our Blessed Lady with unbounded confidence. The Memorare Remember, O most compassionate Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother. To thee do I come, before thee I kneel, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer them. Amen.
I used to think of suffering, like prayer itself as something as a bolt on extra. A good thing if borne or done for God but well...just an 'extra'. Suffering is I have now found in my own life, is central to our Christian calling, while we are on Earth we will always suffer, we will all of us help carry Christs cross and just as we carry this Cross so we will Arise to Eternal life. I feel a little guilty saying this, because I frankly admit I am happier than I have ever been in my life. I laugh, I sing and am full of joy. My worries such as they are , I know, very,very small especially compared to the worries and Crosses others , including you my friends on the Forum are bearing and have borne. But, I suppose, its as the sage says in The Book of Ecclesiastes: Ecclesiastes 3 Lyrics 1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. 9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? 10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. 11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. 12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. 13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God. 14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him. 15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past. 16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. 17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. 18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. 19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. 20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. 21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? 22 Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?1 Anyhow it happened a few years ago coming up to Christmas I felt really bound down by worries and cares. I had always accepted this as part of God's calling. I sometimes thought of myself as a little donkey staggering along, happy under his load and happy enough to do so. But there is a part of the Bible that the black slave folks in the USA used to talk about called the 'Jubille Year' . This was the time when God ordered the Jewish people to set free the captives and the slaves, to take things easy and relax...I suppose a sort of super Sabath. In fact the idea of the Jubille e year was lifted from the Book of Leviticus into the Catholic Church as a Holy Year: Anni favor jubilaei Poenarum laxat debitum, Post peccatorum vomitum Et cessandi propositum. Currant passim omnes rei. Pro mercede regnum Dei Levi patet expositum. (The blessing of the year of jubilee releases the obligation of punishments. After sinners have been purged, the cause against them ends. All the guilty go free by the mercy of God's kingdom, as set forth in the law of Levi.) Anyhow I prayed I might have a Jubillee year and from then to now I can only say this little donkey has had a much less load to carry!! I have to admit I feel a little guilty about this, especially when I hear of the grave Crosses my brothers and sisters have to carry. However God has His reasons and if we must except Crosses from the Good Lord we must accept great joys too!! I know a season of the Cross will come again, but now I am refreshed and this little donkey is ready and waiting and maybe even a little eager to be carrying it again, with God's help. I think for me this is one of the things that makes me happy and at peace to be a child of Mary, I leave all these things in her hands. I do not ask for the Cross, but I know when the time is right, when the season comes she will rest it again on my shoulders. But, till then I am content to walk in this season of Jubilee and of joy. I write regularly to a friend of mine in Jerusalem Shimon, an Orthodox Jew, a holy and a wise man. He says that this notion of Jubilee is very central to Jewish spirituality. This greatly encourages me to be part of a SPiruality so ancient and yet so very Catholic. God is full of surprises, all of them good. Thank you dear God for this Jubillee Year. I rejoice in your Crosses, I rejoice in your joys.
Jubilee! Paidrag, I remember commenting to Geralyn back in the late '80s, of the apparent lack of crosses in my life. Of course, that was not long after the Lord had healed my heart and lifted a particular difficult cross from my shoulders. The sense of Jubilee did not remain long. I am very glad for you. Do not be hesitant to revel. Perhaps the Lord means for your obvious joy to spill over and impact the lives of others. With the difficult times that we are in, your answer to their "why?" will help them turn to our greatest joy, Jesus Himself! I recall after my initial conversion back in the '70s how I would walk to and from the grocery store singing the praises of God. A wonderful gentlemen who later joined a prayer group I was involved in, told me that he had observed me singing. He originally concluded I was quite the oddball! I was glad to hear that his opinion was somewhat modified! You never know! Rejoicing in the Father's Arms!
Thanks to the Grace of God, I've managed to publish a little book about my personal story, about the loss of my friend Christopher and my gradual conversion to the Faith. It's online, here: http://www.lulu.com/content/5823306 There is a preview of the first few pages. Most of the content is in the form of two essays I wrote, one back in 2004, the other one is the series of posts above. Also included are some letters I wrote to help me through the bereavement process, and a tribute I wrote myself which was published in a local newspaper. I'm glad I have the writings in book form, at least, which represents a fitting form of closure, in a way.
Congratulations Sean. I found writing about God's graces brought great healing to me and halp to others. May God bless the worker!!
Congrats! Sean, I can't do so right now, but over the course of this coming week I look forward to reading your book! Way to carry through on your initiative! Safe in the Father's Arms!
