Suffering - Everyone suffers at some point in their lives, some a little, others a lot – some occasionally, others have a life full of suffering. And just about no one thinks that suffering is good – suffering is evil – a result of original sin, that loss of sanctifying grace that brought death and suffering into the world – something to be avoided.
Yet – in light of suffering - St Paul provides some of the more puzzling lines of scripture – “Now I rejoice in my sufferings” – rejoicing is not high on the list of things people do when facing suffering – It might be very close to the bottom of the list of things people do when they are suffering
Paul follows that puzzling line with something even more confusing - “I am filling upwhat is lacking in the afflictions of Christ” – what could be lacking in Christ’s passion? Did he not complete his task? – Is not Christs passion, death and resurrection enough for our salvation?
Christ pulled all things back to himself, all the pains, anguish, and suffering of this world, in his life and passion– he even went to his death, dying on that cross. – and defeated them all by his resurrection – rescuing us from sin, pulling all together in him and by his ascension leading us all to heaven - … - what could be lacking? Yes there was redemptive suffering in Christ, - redeemed by his ressurection but there is nothing lacking in Christ action – so what could St Paul possibly mean?
Many scholars have faced these lines of scripture, with all sorts of different approaches to trying to parse Greek sentences and try and figure out what he might mean, finding different ways to translate the passage to try and make this line of Paul easier – but there is perhaps an easier way to consider what is happening – considering a mother baking cookies with her child.
Mom knows how to bake – she has baked cookies many a time. There is nothing for the child to add to process of baking cookies. - Yet her child wants to bake with her, so she let him try and do what he can, leaving room for him to work, but always stepping in as needed. She makes sure the ingredients are measured correctly, that the oven is hot. That things are mixed fully together – that the cookies are not forgotten in the oven. – She might do far more work than the child that is “helping” did. She might do far more work than if she just made the cookies by herself!
Did the child bake the cookies? Not really. – Did the child make the process of baking the cookies easier? Probably not – it was probably harder – but, Did he help? Yes - did he participate in baking the cookies yes! Was it worth having him help? Yes – his participation was worthwhile for the sake of his participation. – to bring a dignity to the child as a child.
And so, it is with Christ’s act of redemption – Can we forgive our own sins? No – can we get ourselves to heaven? No. We need Christ’s work for these things - But these are not just things that happen to us. - Just as that mother did not just make cookies and give them to her child but had him participate – Jesus gives us the dignity of participating in his mission of redemption.
This is easy to see at mass, we are not passive but actively participate – Externally, we sing, we say responses, we stand/kneel - but internally we also bring our own challenges, prayers, offerings to be united to the sacrifice of the Mass – most of all we bring/offer ourselves. We have the dignity of participating. – While it may not be as much fun as baking cookies, this participation with Christ can also be true with Christ’s redemptive suffering.
We cannot add to Christs works of redemption, but As John Paul II says in his encyclical on Suffering, Salvifici Doloris, “at the same time, in the mystery of the Church as his Body, Christ has in a sense opened his own redemptive suffering to all human suffering” It is indeed “filling upwhat is lacking in the afflictions of Christ” – not because Christ’s work is incomplete, but because of the dignity it brings to participate. - There is a purpose and dignity to suffering in Christ, – JPII also writes that “In the sufferings of all of these people the great dignity of man is strikingly confirmed.”
And this dignity of participation in Christ’s works is how one can rejoice in suffering – is not that suffering is good – it is evil, - and it is not that we should want suffering - but by uniting our suffering to Christ’s, there is the value in participating in such a great good – it is how we can speak of the martyrs crown for the examples of the martyrs – how we hold up the heroic virtue of the saints that went through such suffering – because it was not in vain – It is how St Paul can say that “Now I rejoice in my sufferings” – there is purpose – there is value – there is meaning .
We have and will have suffering in our lives – some a little, other a lot. we do not want it – we do not seek it – but it has come and will come – what we hear from St Paul today is that it can be a participation in the suffering of Christ, a participation in Christ’s work of redemption – for ourselves and for the Church. Something that is possible to rejoice about - The question becomes, when we face suffering, what do we do with it?
Following St Paul’s example - Do we turn to Christ and see our suffering as a participation in Christ’s?