Tag: theproblemofsuffering

Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES on CONSOLATION, QUOTES on JOY, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on THE MYSTICAL BODY, St PAUL!, The PASSION

Thought for the Day – 7 January – The Problem of Suffering

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 7 January – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

The Problem of Suffering

“Jesus is the Head of the Mystical Body of the Church and we are its members.
We ought to suffer with submission and love, as He did.
Rebellion increases and aggravates the pain.
Resignation and love, on the other hand, lighten it, making it meritorious and even welcome.
It is a consolation to suffer with Jesus.
St Paul says: “I rejoice now in the sufferings I have for your sake and what is lacking of the sufferings of Christ, I fill up in my flesh, for His Body, which is the Church” (Col 1:24).
In other words, the Passion of Christ demands our submissive and joyful co-operation in suffering along with Jesus.

The Acts says of the Apostles, “So they departed from the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to suffer disgrace for the Name of Jesus.” (Acts 5:41).

“So great is the reward which awaits me,” exclaims St Francis, “every suffering is pure joy to me!” He knew well, that the sorrows of this world are very tiny compared with the wonderful recompense which awaits us in Heaven.
“The sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that will be revealed in us” (Rom 8:18).”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/01/07/thought-for-the-day-7-january-the-problem-of-suffering/
PART TWO:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/01/07/thought-for-the-day-7-january-the-problem-of-suffering-2/

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Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL

Thought for the Day – 7 January – The Problem of Suffering

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 7 January – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

The Problem of Suffering

“There are some , unfortunately, who rebel under the lash of pain.
“God is not good,” they say. “If He were good, He would not permit suffering. God does not love me. If He loved me, He would not make me suffer.”

This is false, of course.
God did not create suffering.
It was man who brought it into being by his sins and excesses.
God, Who always draws good from evil, knows how to draw great good, even from suffering, in the way of expiation, redemption and propitiation for our sins.
Precisely because He loves us, God permits our sufferings.
He knows well, that they purify and refine us, as the fire purifies and refines gold.
They raise our thoughts to Heaven.

God permits suffering for our spiritual welfare.
But because it has this elevating and propitiatory power, we ought to receive it with an act of resignation and love, as Jesus did in Gethsamane.
We should unite our sufferings with those of our Redeemer, which have an infinite value before our Heavenly Father.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

PART ONE HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/01/07/thought-for-the-day-7-january-the-problem-of-suffering/

Posted in GOD is LOVE, HOLY WEEK, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on FREE WILL, QUOTES on JUSTICE, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS

Thought for the Day – 7 January – The Problem of Suffering

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 7 January – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971) – Second Day after Epiphany

The Problem of Suffering

“Christianity, alone, offers an adequate explanation of the mystery of suffering.   Why is there such a thing as suffering?
The problem is a profound one and the explanations suggested by various schools of philosophy, fail to satisfy the human heart and leave the mind in doubt.
Christian doctrine tells us, that God is infinitely good but also infinitely just.
Being infinitely good, He created man without suffering.
He also gave man the wonderful gift of liberty, which man abused by committing sin.
Once the sin had been committed, God, in His infinite justice, demanded expiation.
Hence, suffering and death … “and through sin, death and thus death has passed unto all men because all have sinned” (Rom 5:12).
Together with death, came the never-ending series of misfortunes, of physical and moral sufferings, which beset humanity.

Suffering then, does not come directly from God. It is a consequence of and, a punishment for, sin.
But, there is also the aspect of expiation and redemption.
God, in His infinite justice, demands from man a penalty for his sin … but, He does not cease to be infinitely good.   Hence, to the mystery of suffering, there is added, the mystery of Redemption.   The Son of God Himself, is made man and takes upon Himself, all our sins.   For the full expiation of our sins, He, the “Man of Sorrows,” offers to the Eternal Father, His own sufferings of infinite value.

It would not be right, however, if we were to remain inactive in this work of redemption. Like Jesus, we must bow our heads before our Cross and embrace it, with resignation and love.   We must unite our sufferings with those of our Redeemer, for the expiation of our sins.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci