Suffering and the Paschal Mystery
I have often stood in the presence of suffering and pain and wanted just the right words to offer comfort and hope. Today I prayed at the funeral of a good friend and fellow Christian. At eighty-nine years his life had been full and blessed with family and friends as well as a career of service in community and church.
In quiet reflection I came a little closer to understanding the mystery of suffering and Christ’s paschal sacrifice. The Paschal Mystery shows us that pain and suffering lead to redemption. In our Fallen state, sin and suffering are a part of our daily lives. Christ entered into sin and death to save us, and He also transforms our sufferings when united to His.
How does this translate into real life in a hospital? Constance C Hull shares this story: “Earlier this week, I sat across from a long-time friend of mine who has spent months undergoing every kind of agony imaginable as her husband underwent treatment for cancer and then developed complication after complication. As I write, he is still in intensive care after his most recent surgery and as they treat many pulmonary embolisms (blood clots) in his lungs, which have made breathing difficult for him.
“Despite how hard things are right now, I looked at her and told her that she will come out of this stronger. That the Lord will use it to make her and her husband holier. This illness will be for God’s greater glory, which we were reminded of with the raising of Lazarus.”
Hull has been there, in that experience of facing death and suffering. She relates in “The Paschal Mystery Reveals How Christ Transforms Suffering”: “I have slept in the intensive care unit next to my sick husband wondering if he was going to die. I know the agony of losing five babies. A grief that every time cut me so deeply, I didn’t think I’d recover.
“My husband and I both are thankful for his illness. That may sound strange, but it changed our lives. The Lord used it to draw us closer to Himself, to cleanse us of certain sins, and to transform us. We still have a long way to go on the path to holiness, but we wouldn’t be where we are today if we hadn’t suffered as much as we have in our nearly fourteen years of marriage.
The faith expressed by Hull and her husband is only possible when they are immersed in the Paschal Mystery. The Second Vatican Council rightly proclaimed that the Eucharistic sacrifice is “the source and summit of the Christian life.
“For the most holy Eucharist contains the Church's entire spiritual wealth: Christ himself, our Passover and living bread. Through his own flesh, now made living and life-giving by the Holy Spirit, he offers life to [us].” (Ecclesia De Eucharistia, John Paul II).
Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross continues to be reenacted every hour of every day around the world. Calvary continues to give us life and hope. As we grow in the very life of Christ through scripture, the Eucharist, and prayer, we reach the understanding that suffering and illness in our lives have a purpose.
When we are on that sickbed, we are not alone. The life of Jesus continues in us. My friend, whose funeral I attended today said on his sick bed, I want to go home. Jesus took him to that home prepared for us all.
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