The theme of the liturgy of the fourteenth Sunday deals with a very sensitive question which has preoccupied human mind since time immemorial.

It is the question of human suffering and God’s proximity to those who suffer as treated in the following readings: Isaiah 66:10-14; Psalm 66; Galatians 6:14-18; Luke 10:1-12, 17-20. According to these readings, many prophets tried to console the Jews who were suffering in exile.

In the Israelites’ suffering, the prophets continued to instil in them confidence in God Yahweh, explaining to them that he had not abandoned them in their hopes to return to the centre of Judaism and their temple.

The underlying issue which still touches every human being is ‘why do we suffer?’ Judaism in its attempt to offer a response to this, pointed to God’s sympathy which resulted into blessings, freedom and rewards to the good.

And on the other hand that he rejected the bad through suffering and afflictions.  Of course not all felt at ease with such an explanation. There is a second century sage, Rabbi Yannai, who did not accept such a view.

He expressed his discomfort with such a simple explanation of suffering as a result of sin in this way: "It is not in our power to explain either the prosperity of the wicked or the afflictions of the righteous” (Mishna, Avot 4:19).

Pope John Paul II has treated this issue in his Apostolic Letter Salvific Doloris without concealing the fact that suffering is something complex, enigmatic and intangible which must be treated with full respect and compassion and even with awe.

In an attempt to understanding human suffering, he cautions us that "Suffering is something which is still wider than sickness”, because there is a "distinction between physical suffering and moral suffering”. (Salvifici Doloris n. 5).

Most probably, of all the questions that trouble the believers, none is greater than: Why do bad things happen to good people? Or, why do the wicked prosper, while the righteous take such a beating?

But eventually all these questions tend to become very personal. Why did this happen to me?  This is the question.
 Whatever we may do, suffering remains a necessary component of human life and contributes substantially to the individual’s development.

It forges our personality, refines our character and purges the conscious mind of our ego. Human life improves through the continuous effort to expand its limits by overcoming difficulties and suffering.

Thus, suffering has some positive aspects in human life, but, when "suffering” is linked to an illness, especially a serious and threatening disease, it shakes the foundations of the individual’s being. Then we can hardly talk of its positive effects, it is rather more of an evil than a mere challenge.

Keeping in mind the negative state of suffering, we still find that there are some concrete benefits that suffering can provide, especially to those who can learn its lessons.

First and foremost it reminds us of our infirmity: suffering highlights the fact that we are frail human beings. Hence eliminating the danger of being described by the ‘infidel’ poet, William Ernest Henley, as "autotheists”—self-gods; who according to the poet think they are the masters of their fate, and the captains of their souls!

Suffering can help us as well to clarify our values as it may help us to see the real worth of things. When one passes through the experience of intense suffering, and perhaps comes to the threshold of death, the entire world can take on new meaning.

At times, suffering may leave in us a seed of compassion. There is an old adage which exaggerates to make a point: "One cannot comfort effectively until he has lain in the bed of suffering.”  It may be a bit of an overstatement, but it surely contains a grain of truth.

Lastly, suffering in most cases do probe and harden our character. It separates the superficial from the stable in an individual. Paul cautioned the Corinthians against building up the church superficially; some folks are of the "wood, hay and stubble” variety, while others exhibit those qualities of "gold, silver and costly stones” (1 Cor 3:12-15).

The latter category endures; while the former do not, simply because the first group has been tested by "fire”.

And by ‘fire’ Paul meant those who have undergone different hardships, hence tested and hardened by suffering.

Such people will know that God’s closeness is a secret of Christian joy; a joy or happiness that can coexist with suffering. 

Ends