Have you ever received devastating news about a loved one? News that was so unbelievable at the time that it didn’t even register with you for a few moments, or even much longer?
The sudden death of a relative. The unexpected and grim diagnosis. When news like that hits us, our first reaction is often disbelief, a refusal to accept the truth. but after reality sets in, a second question follows: “Why?”
I suppose this is how the followers of Jesus felt after hearing his words recorded in today’s Gospel reading for Mass:
While they were all amazed at his every deed,
Jesus said to his disciples,
“Pay attention to what I am telling you.
The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.”
But they did not understand this saying;
its meaning was hidden from them
and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
– Luke 9:43b-45
The disciples probably didn’t understand the words of the Master because, given Jesus’ great deeds of power – his control over nature, his exorcisms and healings – he seemed a superman who could never fall into the hands of any enemy.
Unless he did it on purpose.
One of the reasons why Jesus underwent the horrific sufferings of his passion (besides freeing us from our sins) was this: God foreknew from all eternity that people would doubt his intentions, goodness, and even his very existence because of the existence of suffering in this world. But after the passion of Christ, no one can say that God does not know what suffering is like, or that God could not understand one’s pain. For God himself suffered in Christ, and more than that, triumphed over it by his resurrection.
I completely agree. I also believe that suffering is something we must go through in order to grow as individuals. I have actually just recently written a poetry book about it, “God Blesses Us With Suffering” that can be found on amazon.com
Thanks for commenting, Julia!
This does not explain why we have to suffer or experience pains in this earthly existence.I can understand why Christ suffered and died for us and our sins but are you saying that every bad thing that happens to us or a loved one is a necessary piece of the mystical puzzle we call life in this earthly existence?