Father Groeschel on Suffering

I spoke with a member of Father's community yesterday and he told me that Father is in non stop pain--saying at one point that it continues to be a miracle that the pain isn't killing him. With this as a backdrop these words of Father Groeschel's today mean all the more:



"If you went to Catholic school in the old days, one of the most powerful spiritual messages that the sisters gave us was to unite our own pains and troubles with the Church. The famous phrase 'offer it up' was an important part of the spirituality of devout Catholics and the students who it was hoped would become devout Catholics.



The idea was never quite clear; in fact it was mysterious how our sufferings and pains would have anything to do with the sufferings of Christ for the salvation of the world. But none the less, like many mysteries, we believed it. As we grew older, the great text in Colossians 1:24 began to mean more to us: 'I am now rejoicing in my suffering for your sake and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is the Church'. Therefore those of us who still believe that you can 'offer it up' have a great motive to try to put up with our sufferings. It would be wonderful if we could always do this bravely and with a smile, but that may not be realistic or necessary. The mere fact that we try, that we don't give up, that we go on in the darkness is sufficient indication that we are trying to please God, and surely He must see it this way. "