Also called Redemptive Suffering and Salvific Suffering.

In the first chapter of Colossians, Paul writes, "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the divine office which was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now made manifest to his saints." Colossians 1:24-26.

In 1 Corinthians 12, Saint Paul said we all have roles to play. One is that we suffer with Jesus. In Acts, Saul goes to Tarsus and Jesus asks we he persecutes him. Saul, of course, did not persecute Jesus, instead, he persecuted the Body of Christ, the Church.

We know that there is nothing lacking in Christ's suffering, so we understand that Paul meant something else - that God has chosen to make our sufferings to be associated with Christ.

Saint Paul, like the Mystical Saints, was being mystical. Essentially, he said that if the way he was handling his own suffering pleases God, then he hopes he will bless others as a result.

Teachings of Pope John Paul II

John Paul II wrote an entire Apostolic Letter on the topic of suffering, specifically the salvific meaning of suffering: Salvifici Doloris. It is considered a major contribution to the theology of pain and suffering.

This he wrote after suffering from the bullet wound due to the assassination attempt of Ali Agca. Six weeks after meeting his attacker, he wrote what some consider to be one of the most beautiful teachings about suffering in Christianity.

Need for suffering

"Christ did not conceal from his listeners the need for suffering. He said very clearly: "If any man would come after me... let him take up his cross daily, and before his disciples he placed demands of a moral nature that can only be fulfilled on condition that they should "deny themselves". The way that leads to the Kingdom of heaven is "hard and narrow", and Christ contrasts it to the "wide and easy" way that "leads to destruction."

Process of revealing the meaning of suffering

Christ does not explain in the abstract the reasons for suffering, but before all else he says: "Follow me!". Come! Take part through your suffering in this work of saving the world, a salvation achieved through my suffering! Through my Cross.

Gradually, as the individual takes up his cross, spiritually uniting himself to the Cross of Christ, the salvific meaning of suffering is revealed before him. ...It is then that man finds in his suffering interior peace and even spiritual joy.

Joy in suffering: sharing in the redemption

Saint Paul speaks of such joy in the Letter to the Colossians: "I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake". A source of joy is found in the overcoming of the sense of the uselessness of suffering.

Faith in sharing in the suffering of Christ brings with it the interior certainty that the suffering person "completes what is lacking in Christ's afflictions"; the certainty that in the spiritual dimension of the work of Redemption he is serving, like Christ, the salvation of his brothers and sisters.

It is suffering, more than anything else, which clears the way for the grace which transforms human souls. Suffering, more than anything else, makes present in the history of humanity the powers of the Redemption.

Bible Verses

• Ephesians 3:13
• Collassians 1:24-26
• 1 Corinthians 12

Resources

• Redemptoris Missio, Encyclical, Pope John Paul II
• Salvifici Doloris, Apostolic Letter, Pope John Paul II
• Redemptive Suffering: Offering it up

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