Jesus said to them, “O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”
And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
(Luke 24:25-7)Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church.
(Colossians 1:24)Suffering is the kiss of Jesus Christ.
(St. Mother Teresa)
On the road to Emmaus, Jesus taught his disciples that “it was necessary that the Christ should suffer” and so enter his glory.
Christ’s need to suffer for our salvation is a mystery, but there is no doubt about it.
Suffering, the just for the unjust, was God’s chosen way of healing the wounds of the world.
There is another mystery at work in suffering, hinted at by St. Paul when he says that he “completes what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” for the sake of the Church.
Paul did not mean that Jesus had done most of what was necessary but had not quite finished the job, and that he, Paul, was adding his own bit to cover the rest.
Remember that Paul also wrote: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
For Paul, Christ lived within him. Christ was continuing and completing his work of salvation through Paul’s afflictions.
What was true for Paul is true in its measure for each of us.
We are members of Christ’s body.
His life is coursing within us.
When we suffer, it is not that we are suffering for Christ; it is that Christ is suffering through us.
When we offer our suffering to Christ and allow it to be connected to his suffering, the work of salvation is furthered.
This is called “redemptive suffering.”
Jesus is the one Redeemer, the only Savior; but he unites himself to us and continues his redeeming work through us.
He continues to suffer for the sake of the world in and through his body, the Church.
The truth that Christ suffers through us gives a deeper significance to our own suffering.
It helps explain why the saints, those who have been most beloved by God, seem to have been chosen for the deepest suffering.
It is as if the Lord looks eagerly among his followers for those who love him most, and he gives them the great privilege of carrying a part of his suffering for the salvation of the world.
The greatest of the saints knew this.
They sometimes even found ways to increase their own suffering for the sake of others.
For the rest of us, we need not go looking for opportunities to suffer nearly as much; for many will come our way in daily life.
It is enough to receive them and turn them to goodness after the pattern of Christ.
Let’s not waste the suffering that we experience.
Let us not allow an eternal treasure to run away into the sand.
We may never know the great miracles of grace that occur for those we love if we willingly unite ourselves to Christ and allow him to suffer in us.
