Healing and Suffering

“Sorrows are the best harbingers of the will of God, and from the beginning of the age they have served as a sign of God’s election. God acts on a man’s life as a doctor. There are painful conditions that may seem minor and non-threatening, but a knowledgeable doctor finds it necessary to use severe medical treatments to treat them. The Heavenly Physician doesn’t always start healing a spiritual illness. His gaze penetrates into the depths of the soul, revealing there the germ of sin, passion, self-will, and the mixture of good and evil intentions. Through trials, he brings these harmful elements to the surface for healing, elevating the soul to a higher purity. He loves, has mercy, cleanses, heals, and prepares us for blessedness; and we look and say: “How harshly He afflicts us!” (St. Seraphim Chichagov)

“Some of the suffering we experience is clearly the consequence of our own sins. Some suffering comes from the sins and failures of others—just as our sins and failures cause much of their suffering. And some suffering comes from the simple fact that we live in a fallen world, in a world subject to change, often sudden and violent change, a world falling apart, a world ruled by frightened, selfish human beings like you and me. All suffering, however, regardless of it’s apparent immediate source, can be understood as the wrath of God. But we must never forget that we call it God’s wrath because of how we feel and how we experience it, not because God is at all angry or vengeful. Rather, God both allows and brings about suffering in our lives as a doctor treating a patient. What patient after major surgery has not experienced the wrath of the physical therapist? Healing the body is often painful.” (Fr. Michael Gillis)

“…Saint Gregory the Great notes that Job’s sufferings caused “him to differ from what he was before. And because he had seen more plainly the light of truth with the eye within, he more clearly discerned and beheld the darkness of his humanity.” This point is likewise set before us by Saint Isaac the Syrian. When a man like Job “perceives these invisible and by far more excellent things . . . then there is begotten by the perception proper to this knowledge another faith, not one which is opposed to the first faith, but one which confirms it. And this is called ‘the faith of divine vision’”…In every interaction between the Lord and Job and his friends, the forgiveness and healing power of God overflows. God grants a divine vision that is greater and more certain than anything Job knew formerly. When God says to Job’s friends “my servant Job shall pray for you” (Job 42:8), we behold how greatly the forgiveness and healing of God renews a person who truly is humble and repentant.” (Dynamis 8/24/2022)

“Due to the ontological unity of mankind, both sin and virtue have their consequences not only for the man himself, but also for those around him (family, close friends, and so on), and therefore, for all of mankind. There’s a causal relationship between sin, sickness, and suffering, and between virtues and health. Sin weakens human nature, while virtue strengthens and heals it.” (Metropolitan Seraphim Joanta) 

“Since Christ is the physician, and the Church is the hospital, then it makes sense for us to see that the sacraments of the Church are the various medicines through which God shares with us His grace in a powerful and dynamic way.” (Fr. James Guirguis)

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