tnavarro61 Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Why is it one has always to suffer when following Jesus? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Hepburn Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I have no idea what you're talking about, I'm sorry. Jesus came for me to have an abundant life - suffering? You mean, you believe God expects more suffering - Jesus' wasn't enough? I'm not following? Peace on earth between God and Man now...and all that No need for worry, fear, burdens are given to him, we are joint heirs, with renewed minds, casting our cares... So where does this suffering fit in? I'm free. Could you be talking about paper chains you have placed on yourself? That must be it. I hope this thread helps you with this. I'm glad you started it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vee Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 [quote name='tnavarro61' timestamp='1295266316' post='2200977'] Why is it one has always to suffer when following Jesus? [/quote] Why? Because no servant is greater than his master. To follow Christ is to follow His path and that is the way of the cross. You must unite your sufferings with His. He suffered and thus it has been sanctified and has great value. We atone for our sins and for the sins of others. We make up what is lacking in the body Colossians 1:24 Meditate on the passion and there you will find your answers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vee Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Without love, all is nothing. - Saint Teresa of Jesus Without love and being united to He who is Love suffering seems empty and useless but when you love someone a great deal nothing is too much to bear for them. In suffering we are also purified as gold is tested in fire. We have imperfections and flaws and God has to remove those so we may fully see Him . He knows what is best for us and like a parent holding a child who is getting a needle He knows that we have to go through some things that hurt but it is for our own good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chamomile Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 [quote name='tnavarro61' timestamp='1295266316' post='2200977'] Why is it one has always to suffer when following Jesus? [/quote] Well, I don't think we're [i]always[/i] suffering when following Jesus. Although it can definitely seem like that when we are in pain... but there are moments of sweetness, if only in our memories at the moment. Recently, I think some of the readings or psalms at Mass reminded us to not forget the works of the Lord. Imagine how hard that would've been for Israel when in captivity, to think of the miracle of the Exodus! And yet some persevered in that trial. As vee said, this is how God purifies us. This is why it's so important to meditate on Jesus' Passion. This is His greatest work, the true Exodus! It's so full of suffering. But also completely - in the ultimate, Divine sense of completeness - full of love. One of the qualities of love is that those in love seek to be so closely united as to be one. This is the mystery of marriage (two become one) and also the mystery of Christ's love for His Church, and for each one of us. And so we cannot follow Our Lord without being willing to drink from the same cup. There's no easy answer to this question, especially if you're suffering. But think of it another way - does one suffer [i]without[/i] Jesus? Yes, no person is without suffering. And what a terrible sadness to suffer alone. Rejoice, as difficult that it may be, that He is with You in your trials, though it may be He is very quiet - remember that he spoke only a few times in the long hours He hung on the Cross. Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luigi Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 As Chamomile pointed out, not everyone who follows Jesus suffers, at least not all the time (see Sledding Nuns thread in Vocation Station). And everyone who lives in this fallen world suffers sometimes (no need for specific example here). The question is how we perceive our suffering. Those who don't have the model of Jesus probably view suffering as pointless pain inflicted on the individual by an uncaring universe (thus the move to euthanise those with terminal illnesses). Those who look to Jesus as a model of holiness know (eventually) that suffering is/can be redemptive (Pope Jahn Paul II with Parkinson's disease). We all suffer. It induces anguish in all of us at times. If you're suffering now, you'll pull through it eventually. If your question is sparked by someone else's suffering, then it's an indication of your empathy & charity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruciatacara Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 (edited) Read St John of the Cross at this time - he might help. He says that when one is in the darkness, it seems as if it will never end. Then when one is in consolation, that too seems as if it will go on forever. We are human beings. We have times of trial and times of great joy. The psalms show this quite beautifully. Sometimes they cry to God out of pain and suffering, and at other times they glorify and praise Him for His kindness. Sometimes they do both at once! During a particularly difficult time, this is when you can come closer to Jesus by remembering His suffering and knowing that God is no stranger to suffering Himself. We have a high priest who has been through what we go through. Father Corapi once said that a woman came to him and asked him to pray for her that she would learn to trust God more. The next time he saw her she complained that he must have forgotten because she had been through so many trials since then. He told her that he he surely had been praying for her to learn to trust God more, and this was God way of teaching her howho ! Trials strengthen us the same way that lifting weights increase muscle tone - it sounds as if you are in God's gymnasium being made fit for His service. And finally, remember Jeremiah (who didn't have Jesus's example in front of him) who complained to God that he was suffering because of Him and that he kept trying to forget God and not talk about Him anymore - but then he wold feel this burning in his heart, and couldn't help himself. Throw yourself into the arms of Our Lord, who set us an example of how to endure whatever suffering comes our way - with love and trust in God. And if that fails, then do what all the saints did, and rage at Him for awhile (He can take it) and wait for the healing presence to fill you.... He never abandons us. Edited January 19, 2011 by cruciatacara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tnavarro61 Posted January 23, 2011 Author Share Posted January 23, 2011 Thank you very much for your replies. I feel a lot better now, and I consider myself as the happiest man alive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah147 Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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