Paul draws his strength in suffering from the Risen Christ. “That I may know him and the power of his Resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Phil 3:10–11). In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed perplexed, but not driven to despair persecuted, but not forsaken struck down, but not destroyed always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies” (2 Cor 4:8–10). Perhaps three key words can summarize a triple perspective he gives to the meaning of suffering - struggle, strength, and hope: The letters and understanding of Paul reveal some interesting details of the meaning of Christian suffering. Third, much courage, generosity, forgiveness, hope, and sacrifice arise from the world's sufferings and evils.įinally, Christ's Paschal Mystery shows how God draws out of the depths of evil the victory of the Risen Christ and his transforming love. Second, moral evil and much of human suffering come from man's abuse of his freedom in sin. The answers, given by the same Catechism, are both comforting and enlightening:įirst, much evil in the world, especially physical evil, results from the kind of limited universe in which we live. The Catechism for Filipino Catholics poses a much-asked question “If God is ‘Father’ and ‘Almighty,’ why does He allow so much evil and suffering?” ( Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines 1997, n. In number fifteen it states:Īnd even though the victory over sin and death achieved by Christ in his Cross and Resurrection does not abolish temporal suffering from human life, nor free from suffering the whole historical dimension of human existence, it nevertheless throws a new light upon this dimension and upon every suffering: the light of salvation. Pope Saint John Paul II wrote an apostolic letter called Salvifici doloris on the Christian meaning of human suffering.

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