Benjamin Franklin once observed that death and taxes are the only two certainties in this world. Most of us would also add suffering to that list.
It is the existence of suffering that provides atheists and agnostics with some of their more effective arguments against faith. Suffering also presents religion with a dilemma. If God exists, if God is good, and if God is love, why does He permit suffering?
As anyone who has read the Bible (or even just the Book of Job) knows, suffering is a recurring theme in Scripture. Remarkably, Catholicism asserts that God became man and, as the Apostles Creed tells us, suffered and died.
Nevertheless, there is a danger of turning the subject of suffering into an abstract philosophical discussion. Doing so runs the risk of avoiding the “hard” questions. What does it mean to suffer, why does God allow it, and does it serve a purpose? I will endeavor to address these questions and argue that suffering provides an opportunity to practice virtue.
Owing to its subjective nature, defining what constitutes suffering is difficult. Compounding this difficulty is that suffering can come in the forms of physical pain or mental anguish. For my purposes, I will define suffering as the “Experience of the soul that comes with the presence of evil or the privation of some good.” (Hardon, John. Catholic Dictionary. 2013).
Suffering and its corollary, evil, have long been a thorn in the side of the faithful. To paraphrase Thomas Aquinas, if God is good, there would be no suffering, but there is suffering; therefore, God is not good. It is essential to point out that suffering is no argument against the existence of God. For even if atheists are correct and God does not exist, the reality of suffering remains.
The foundational premise for the Catholic response to suffering is to assert that it is a consequence of The Fall. (See Catechism of The Catholic Church, Paragraphs 376-379). No longer illuminated by grace, the intellect easily mistakes lesser goods for higher goods. Instead of realizing that God is the source of happiness, we seek happiness through things like money, sex, or fame. Since these things fail to bring true happiness, we endure suffering. We suffer, too, from the fruits of this broken world. The pain of illness, the immense sorrow of losing a loved one haunts our existence.
Furthermore, because we no longer possess the supernatural grace enjoyed before original sin, “all of creation” is now susceptible to the natural events and conditions of the universe. This includes suffering caused by earthquakes, fires, and sundry other natural disasters.
Still, all is not lost. We are buoyed first by the fact that God has provided a path through our fallen state. (See John 3:16). And, if it is true that “All things work for good for those who love God,” then we may infer that even suffering can have value.
The Bible tells us that not only does God allow suffering, but He experiences it Himself. God gives meaning to suffering by transforming it into the very thing which allows for our redemption. In suffering and dying, Jesus pays the price owed by all of us for the cost of original sin. While we human beings do not have the power to save ourselves, by uniting our suffering to the suffering of Christ, we participate in the act of redemption. Said differently, suffering allows us to conform ourselves to Christ’s death so that we may have hope in our resurrection. (See Philippians 3:8-11).
It follows from what has been said that suffering is vital in sanctification. Sanctification signifies the process whereby one is made holy. Two stages are involved in the process of sanctification. The first occurs when the individual is baptized. The second stage is a lifelong process in which a person already in the state of grace grows in possession of grace and likeness to God by faithfully corresponding with God’s will.
This stage involves the realization that one must depend on God. Saint Paul suggests that suffering serves this purpose. He writes, “And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’…For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:6-10). For Saint Paul, suffering provides an opportunity to not only participate in the redemptive suffering of Christ but also an opportunity to admit one’s dependence on God.
So then, suffering has redemptive qualities, but can it help us be virtuous? To show how it is possible, it must be admitted that all creatures tend toward the good to obtain happiness. This is so because happiness is not sought for the sake of anything else. One does not become happy to obtain money, but one obtains money thinking it will make one happy. Since God is the source of all that is good (Psalm 144:15), ultimate happiness is the beatific vision. While that level of happiness is impossible in this life, a certain level is obtainable.
It is obtainable by practicing the cardinal virtues of prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice. Since happiness (not pleasure) requires perfecting one’s nature, and since human beings are rational creatures, happiness lies in being rational. And being rational includes practicing virtue.
For the suffering person, this may take the form of courage in the face of pain. Doing so is the definition of fortitude. Prudence enables the suffering person to know what must be done, even in the face of despair. Suffering requires temperance to order one’s desires properly. In this context, temperance is not only necessary concerning the care of oneself but also curbs the urge to strike out at the perceived cause of one’s suffering. Finally, seeing suffering in another person should engender compassion, which is a form of justice.
This in no way ought to be interpreted as suggesting that suffering is intrinsically good or that the more one suffers, the more virtuous one becomes. Instead, I hope to have shown that while suffering is a condition of being alive and is frequently beyond our control, it is possible to use suffering to cooperate with Him, Who “Works for good for those who love God.”
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